Strictly star details 'fights' with Giovanni Pernice as she admits 'there's no kindness'

A former Strictly star has revealed that she used to "fight" with Giovanni Pernice during training, claiming it takes a certain type of person to "handle a guy like him".

Michelle Visage, who rose to fame on RuPaul's Drag Race, was paired with Giovanni in the 17th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, but the couple exited the show after facing Saffron Barker and AJ Pritchard in the Dance Off.

Giovanni previously faced an allegation of being "abusive" from his ex-dance partner, Amanda Abbington, with the BBC subsequently launching an investigation. An inquiry upheld six out of 17 complaints but cleared him of physical abuse allegations

Michelle has previously defended the Strictly pro, saying he's "not for everybody, but he's definitely for me". Meanwhile, in a new interview, the TV personality reiterated these sentiments, describing Giovanni as a "professional".

She told Best magazine: "Did we fight? Yeah. Can I handle him? Yeah. It takes a specific type of person to be able to handle a guy like him because he's Sicilian and he wants it done his way. He's a professional.

"They're trained to dance to win so there's no kindness involved. Yes, he has to change a little bit to realise that we are not trained that way. So I'd have moments where I went: 'I can't do what you do, find something that I can do!'"

She added that they remained friends "through all of it", and if she returned to the show, Michelle would want Giovanni to return as her partner, and she would sign up in a "heartbeat".

Meanwhile, Michelle revealed last year that she's in an open relationship with her husband of 28 years, David Case, with the Drag Race star claiming that the dynamic strengthens their marriage.

Speaking to the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast, she recalled how she met her husband in Central Park, New York City, when she was 26, after she'd just left a relationship with "the love of my life".

The TV judge revealed that she had enjoyed a "summer of debauchery" and then met David, whom she described as "so opposite" and "very much like" her ex-fiancé.

Michelle added: "We live openly, so he would get off knowing that I was so happy and no matter what it is that I do, and I'm not just talking sexually. Whatever it is, I don't know if I have compersion in me to be really excited if he's doing something with another woman but I know that it exists and he is 100% that."