She’s been paired with hunky Giovanni Pernice on Strictly Come Dancing this year and Laura Whitmore has admitted it’s easy to see why the show has a reputation for igniting romances.
Speaking about the many relationships that have started on the programme between celebrities and their professional partners, Laura believes the “sexy dances” are to blame.
During a chat with Marian Finucane on RTE Radio 1 on Saturday, Laura – who is just good friends with Giovanni and has no plans for romance – said: “I can see why it happens; you spend a lot of time with this one person and you’re very close to them. There’s certain dances that aren’t too bad, but the waltz and the tango and those kind of sexy dances, where you have to be up close and personal, you can see how it can happen.”
Although there’s no change of romance with Giovanni, the pair have become firm friends, with Laura recently writing in her blog for Glamour Online: “I like to call him Gio Gio [Joe Joe]. Gio is so talented, and when I saw him last year I thought he was one of the best dancers and best choreographers in the whole show.
“I’m a feisty Irish lady, and he’s a feisty Italian guy so it should be interesting.”
Laura also revealed she signed up to the show because she wants to be able to dance like her parents.
She said: “I’m not a dancer, I don’t know what I’m doing; the reason I’m doing the show is because it’s a challenge and I want to learn.
“Always at family weddings, my mother and father, uncles and aunties… they are all great at dancing. They grew up in that generation of the showband and I always get a bit jealous that I can’t do it as well as them.”
