Giovanni Pernice has finally confirmed his split from Maura Higgins.
The Strictly Come Dancing pro and his Love Island star girlfriend sparked split rumours last week when fans noticed they had deleted all photos of each other from Instagram.
Taking to his Instagram Stories on Monday, Giovanni confirmed that their relationship had “come to a natural end”, and insisted there was “absolutely no wrong-doing”.
He wrote: “I wanted to say a couple of things… Firstly, great relationships with great people can come to a natural end. This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrong-doing and this should be the end of any speculation.”
“Whilst I respect and understand interest in my personal life, wouldn’t it be fantastic to instead use this space to raise awareness of subjects and issues which need the attention.”
“My eyes have been opened to so many things during my career. But I am learning so much from this series of Strictly. The show has highlighted many important conversations for different communities and increased representation.”
“These are the conversations which deserve the time, energy and recognition. We must concentrate on what’s important and how we can all make a difference in life. Gio x,” he signed off.
It comes after the Italian dancer shut down claims he was on celebrity dating app Raya prior to his split from Maura.
His rep told The Sun: “Giovanni became a member of Raya years ago and his original profile remained on the site. He categorically was not using it whilst in a relationship.”
Maura and Giovanni confirmed their romance in July after weeks of speculation.
According to The Sun, Maura is “absolutely devastated” by the split.
A source told the publication: “It’s all over for now. Maura’s absolutely devastated, it appears the Strictly curse has struck again. Pals are hoping that they can patch things up. But only time will tell whether they’ll work things out as Giovanni is so busy.”
“He’s been focusing on Strictly, training his celeb partner Rose 24/7, and they’ve become really good friends. He’s even been learning sign language from Rose, showing it off on social media. Maura’s decided to take a step back and let him concentrate on the show.”
