STRICTLY star Giovanni Pernice may have been left off this year's pro line up following the Amanda Abbington scandal, but he’s still laughing all the way to the bank.
In the last financial year the made over £1m – an increase of around 38 per cent on the previous 12 months and his highest to date.
Giovanni, 34, is now one of Strictly’s biggest earners thanks to his stage shows in between series of the BBC One dance contest and other side ventures.
But it remains to be seen how his finances will be affected by the scandal as these figures only cover the period up to April 2024 – just before it was revealed he was being investigated by the BBC.
He stepped down from the programme last spring while the corporation probed claims of bad behaviour behind the scenes made
But he continued to perform in his own stage show and then signed up for the Italian version of Strictly, Ballando con le Stelle, where he found love, and won the show, with his celebrity partner Bianca Guaccero.
During that time the BBC released its report into 17 claims made by Amanda. Six were upheld and they related to verbal bullying and harassment, but the most serious allegations of physical aggression were not upheld.
On Friday the BBC revealed the list of pros who would be taking part in this year's series with the usual line up returning – minus Giovanni.
Other big names, including Johannes Radebe and Nadija Bychkova, did come back. It was also announced there would be two new pros joining the line up, though these have yet to be named.
The new account figures, released to day for GP Entertainment Ltd, show he made £1.12m, up from £809,000 the previous year. His earnings have almost quadrupled over the past four years. In 2021 he earned £284,000.
Despite his big earnings in the last financial year, Giovanni was on his tour as he struggles to sell seats following the investigation.
His Last Dance Tour date for Birmingham's Symphony Hall in February appeared on discounted website, Central Tickets.
While they were originally priced between £36 – £135, fans were able to snap up seats for just £15 ahead of the performance.
Giovanni has over 50 dates scheduled for the tour, which will come to an end at the London Palladium on May 4th.
Whilst Giovanni was cleared of being physically abusive to Amanda Abbington, he stressed that it
He said previously: “I’m not going to lie, there were dark moments in terms of, you know, this is finished, this is the end of my career.
“That was one of my down moments. Sorry for my language but 2024 can f**k off. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the back of it.”;
