Strictly pro Giovanni Pernice appeared to “race to the exit” after he and Richie Anderson were axed from the BBC dance show last night (October 9).
Richie and Giovanni were voted off Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night following a dance-off with Fleur East.
However, body language expert Judi James has claimed that Giovanni was “resigned” to the fact he would be leaving the show.
Craig Revel Horwood, Anton du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all agreed to save Fleur but Shirley Ballas said she would have saved Richie and Giovanni.
Giovanni ‘resigned’ to Strictly exit
Speaking to The Mirror, Judi claimed Gio appeared to have a “desire to get things over with” after landing a spot in the bottom two.
As a result, she claimed this signalled Giovanni making a “race to the exit” as his time on Strictly drew to a close.
There was an air of total resignation from Giovanni’s body language as he waited for what he clearly considered to be the inevitable exit from the show.
“His index finger tapped emphatically on Richie’s shoulder in a metronomic gesture. His head nodded in agreement when Fleur was chosen. Even his blink rate increased, with all three gestures suggesting a desire to get things over with,” she said.
“Giovanni patted Richie hard and the two men stood awkwardly together after the result, with Gio’s hands clasped in front of his fake belly and only one brief pat and hug as he said ‘lovely jubbly’.”
Judi went on to allege that Giovanni felt their exit was “inevitable”.
“There was an air of total resignation from Giovanni’s body language as he waited for what he clearly considered to be the inevitable exit from the show following his dance-off with Richie,” she added.
‘It was an honour’
Meanwhile, following their exit, Giovanni said it had been an “honour” to work with Richie.
“I have to say it’s been an honour to be able to dance with you because I know how much you love Strictly Come Dancing, you really are a super fan.
“And I’m glad that you got to do this experience and glad that I got to do it with you. It’s been a shame it’s been too short for us. But I hope you’ve enjoyed every single second of it, and it stays in your heart forever.”
Richie went on to add: “I want to thank this guy [Giovanni] as well. He’s been so amazing.
“I feel so lucky that I’ve got to dance with you every day. Not only are you a fantastic dancer but you are also a fantastic guy on top of that.
“I want to thank all my family and friends and my other half Dean who is in the audience. I love you so much.”
BBC viewers fuming over ‘ridiculous’ result
The result left many viewers angry. Some took to social media to claim neither pair deserved to be in the bottom two.
“This is absolutely shocking!!! Neither of them deserves to be in the bottom two, what an absolute joke.”
While another added: “Ridiculous! Neither Fleur nor Richie should be in the bottom two.”
And a third commented: “Furious! Really furious! Neither should have been in the dance-off.”
“Neither couple deserved to be in the bottom two!” said a fourth. “So very sad!”
Read more: Strictly fans all make same comparison to Kym Marsh in her wig
Strictly Come Dancing continues next Saturday night at 6.30pm on BBC One.
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