Strictly's Giovanni Pernice has complaint about first live show
Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice has shared a complaint about this weekend's first live show.
As fans will know, there is no elimination in the first week of the BBC reality competition. Instead, the scores from the first and second live shows will be combined to eliminate a celebrity next weekend.
This essentially gives each pairing two weeks to show improvement before having to actually face landing in the Bottom Two Dance-Off.
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The format has been tried and tested for Strictly for years now, but Pernice has admitted he would prefer if there was an elimination after this weekend instead.
"It's still a competition," he told The Radio Times. "But again, as I always say, I always teach my partner something. It's not about the scores, it's about what you're delivering on the night.
"Obviously, if you get good scores it's fantastic, but you want to please the judges and you want to please the public — because, at the end of the day, we have seen in the past that even if you're at the top of the leaderboard with your scores, you can be in the dance-off.
"The pressure of going out, I think, is what makes the week go better. Because all week you're thinking, 'I don't want to go home!' so you're going to put the pressure on yourself to make the dance really good."
The dancer then added: "So it's a shame that this week there is no elimination, because I wanted somebody to go home."
Giovanni said he wasn't personally nervous to be the first out, as he promised there's "no question" he will be safe next weekend with celebrity partner Amanda Abbington.
The pair will be kicking off the new series by dancing the Viennese Waltz to 'Pointless' by Lewis Capaldi so they have a tall task ahead of them to impress the judges.
Perhaps Gio has good reason to be confident since he's never been in a couple eliminated first on Strictly — though he came close last year when he was eliminated second with Richie Anderson. However, he has also won Strictly in the past with Rose Ayling-Ellis and finished second on three other occasions.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday nights on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights from September 25 on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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