Giovanni Pernice reunites with BBC Strictly Come Dancing star as she says 'it's been a minute'

Giovanni Pernice has been seen reuniting with one of his friends and former Strictly Come Dancing colleagues Lauren Oakley during his latest stint back in the UK.

The dancer is currently splliting his time between the UK, where he's been hosting dance classes with his company Ballando, and Italy, where he is competing in the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars, Ballando con le Stelle.

His stint on Ballando con le Stelle, alongside actress Bianca Guaccero, comes after he wasn't invited back to take part in Strcitly after seven years on the BBC One dance show.

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It came after he was subject to allegations about his behaviour in the training room by former celebrity dance partner Amanda Abbington. He denied the claims and a report containing the findings of a BBC probe revealed "some but not all" of the actress' complaints were upheld.

Despite his exit from Strictly, Giovanni still seemingly reamins friends with a number of those who appear on the show, including judge Anton Du Beke, who he's set to go back and tour with next year, and Lauren.

Over the weekend, Lauren, who hasn't been given a celebrity dance partner during Strictly's 20th-anniversary series, joined Giovanni during his latest dance classes in London and the pair were seen cosying up for a reunion snap.

Ballando's Instagram account shared a picture of the pair and said: "The best surprise visit today," which Giovanni reshared to his Instagram Story and tagged Lauren.

She took to her own Instagram Story and shared a picture of herself and Giovanni sharing a warm embrace, with the latter planting a kiss on Lauren's head. "It's been a minute," she wrote alongside the photo, before adding a white heart emoji.

It comes after Giovanni was recently reunited with Strictly judges Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood who joined him at his previous dance classes put on by his company Ballando, which sees him hosting dance classes for anyone from beginners to the more experienced.