Code of Silence star Rose Ayling-Ellis was once firm friends with her Strictly dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
However, it all appeared to come crashing down for the pair during the BBC’s investigation into his alleged behaviour behind the scenes on the hit dance show.
Now, months after the inquiry came to an end, with Giovanni cleared of the majority of complaints against him, he and Rose still haven’t been seen together. They haven’t liked one another’s posts on social media, either.
So what is going on with the one-time Strictly sweethearts?
Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis hasn’t spoken out in support of Giovanni Pernice
Rose and Giovanni won the hearts of the nation after winning the glitterball trophy in 2021. She became the first deaf contestant to win the hit BBC show.
Following their time on the show, the pair proved to have a close bond and regularly met up with one another and supported each other on social media. She even appeared on his travel show with Anton Du Beke.
However, since the complaints about Giovanni’s behaviour, Rose seems to have been avoiding Giovanni.
After Amanda Abbington came forward and raised concerns about the Italian dancer’s behaviour, the likes of Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke jumped to his defense. However, Rose remained silent on the subject and still hasn’t publicly said a thing about the investigation – even after it wrapped.
Gio stays silent, too
It works both ways, though. Giovanni has also been silent when it comes to Rose.
In May 2024, the former EastEnders star announced she had secured herself a role in the series Reunion for the BBC. It was her first major role since leaving the soap.
“I’m so excited to be joining William Mager’s Reunion and to be working alongside such a talented cast, whose work I have long admired. It is a very special project and an important moment for the deaf community’s representation on TV,” Rose told her Instagram followers.
In the comments section, one user wrote: “Well done Rose, Giovanni be proud of you for sure.”
That said, while Rose and Giovanni both still follow each other, Giovanni did not show any support by liking or commenting on the post.
In fact, it’s been many months since they have interacted with one another on social media.
Final show of support
Back in May 2024, Giovanni reached out with his last public show of support for Rose.
She uploaded a heartfelt post about news headlines over a “cure” for deafness. Clearly upset, Gio reached out to Rose, hitting the like button on the post.
The post was shared on May 9 and marks the last public interaction between the pair – now more than a year ago.
Of course, on May 17, the BBC announced it would be launching an investigation into the allegations surrounding Giovanni.
Since then, Giovanni has won the Italian version of Strictly – and Rose hasn’t liked any of those posts. Rose has also been starring in the critically-acclaimed Code of Silence on ITV1 . And Giovanni hasn’t liked or commented on any of those. Many other stars from Rose’s Strictly year have, though.
‘Rose is finding the whole situation really tough’
While Rose’s experience with Giovanni didn’t appear to be negative, an inside source alleged to The Sun last year that she was finding the allegations against him hard to deal with.
“Rose is finding the whole situation really tough. She had a really great experience with Gio so is really shocked by it all,” they claimed.
They added: “She of course believes what others are saying. But she is just trying to not get involved. She won’t be speaking about it publicly.”
Missing from 20th anniversary celebrations
As the first-ever deaf participant and winner of Strictly Come Dancing, Rose has reserved her place in glitterball history. However, when it came to celebrating the 20th anniversary of the show, she was nowhere to be seen.
It was reported at the time this was because she didn’t want to discuss her time on the show with Giovanni.
A source said at the time: “Rose loved her time on the show. But didn’t want to discuss her time with Giovanni. She’s chosen not to speak about him and Amanda publicly.”
However, months after he was cleared of the majority of the complaints levelled at him, Rose has still maintained her silence. So is their friendship broken for good? Only time will tell, we guess…
Catch Rose in Code of Silence tonight (May 26) on ITV1 at 9pm.
