Debbie McGee reveals how she made Giovanni Pernice jealous after Strictly chemistry

Debbie McGee, 59, sparked amazing on-screen chemistry with Italian dancer Giovanni, 27, when the pair were partnered together at the beginning of the series.

However, after reaching the grand final, the duo went their separate ways while the former magician’s assistant leapt straight into a stint on stage in pantomime Beauty and the Beast.

Admitting that she had managed to make the hunky Strictly Come Dancing professional jealous with her new venture, Debbie explained that she had found herself a new dance partner in the production.

“I’ve danced with another man since,” she confessed, adding: “And Giovanni might have been jealous!

“He came to watch me in panto and I had to do a Charleston with one of the other actors,” she told Woman and Home magazine.

“Giovanni texted saying, ‘Well done on the Charleston darling, but you’re dancing with another man!’

“We had a joke about that,” she added.

Debbie, who has now been reunited with Giovanni for the Strictly live tour, also spoke out about the separation from him following December’s final.

“The first day I arrived for panto, fellow cast member Lynne McGranger, who did the Australian Strictly, warned me about ‘partnership separation syndrome’,” she said. “I definitely suffered from that. 

“I’d spent four months seeing Giovanni seven days a week for a minimum of 10 hours a day,” she continued. “We’d been a team, just like Paul [Daniels] and I were.

“When it suddenly stopped, I missed the constant texting and joking around.”

Debbie and Giovanni appear delighted to be back together again for the tour, which kicked off last month and comes to a close in London this weekend.

Last week, the pair enjoyed a late-night karaoke session after completing their show and were joined by fellow Strictly stars Alexandra Burke, 29, and winner Joe McFadden, 42, as well as professionals AJ Pritchard, 23, Oti Mabuse, 27, and Nadiya Bychkova, 28.

Alexandra captured the hilarious evening on video, sharing clips with her 161,000 Instagram followers as Debbie belted out a Whitney Houston ballad.

Giovanni also joined in the singing, taking on Cher’s hit Believe before forcing X Factor winner Alexandra to join in.

Read the full interview with Debbie McGee in the March issue of Woman and Home, on sale now.