Strictly Come Dancing's Dianne Buswell appears to make Giovanni Pernice dig

Dianne Buswell appeared to make a dig at Giovanni Pernice as she appeared on This Morning alongside Vito Coppola.

The pair appeared on the ITV daytime show to talk about the 20 year celebrations of Strictly Come Dancing later this year. The BBC show has been hit with controversy in recent months with one of its best loved-dancers and longest serving dancers Sicilian-born Giovanni accused of misconduct behind the scenes. The professional has denied any wrongdoing and is currently the subject of an internal probe. Amid the investigation it was confirmed that Giovanni would not be returning to the show.

Faced with the dancers, who have just finished their stint in the Strictly pro tour, Ben Shephard couldn't help but wonder how the allegations weighing against the 33-year-old would impact their teaching style this year.

Awkwardness seemed to linger in the air until Dianne and Vito expressed their optimism for Strictly's 20th year on our screens, particularly as Amy Dowden will be returning to the dancefloor for this year's series following her cancer diagnosis.

Dianne Buswell and Vito Coppola were probed about their opinion on the Giovanni Pernice allegations

This then prompted Dianne to highlight her differences with Giovanni as she claimed her teaching style was "never the same", stating: "I change my teaching style with every single celebrity that I'm given because they're all so different, they've all got different qualities about them."

She added: "It's about getting to know them and you really do understand how to teach them in the right way. It changes year after year for me, it's never the same (...) I love that part about it." Vito then chimed in, insisting they were "able to adapt their way of teaching", sharing a "unique experience" with their celeb partners each year.

Giovanni Pernice was axed from the program and he has fiercely denied claims calling out his alleged "militant" approach to training on Strictly.

He notably stated that he was looking forward to clearing his name and his friends have warned that his stance has not changed, despite reports of more stars potentially coming forward with their own allegations.

Multiple stars in the likes of Jamie Laing and Anton du Beke, who was supposed to share a show with the dancer, have shown their support of Giovanni amid the controversy.

Shirley Ballas was the most recent star to take a stand for Giovanni on Monday, June 17, while promoting her new book Murder on the Dancefloor.

"I know he is a hard worker", she said, "He wants the people to do the very best that they can do. Obviously in my life I was bullied a lot. I don't condone bullying on any path but also I don't believe gossip and what you read in the newspapers because things get escalated and they are blown way out of all proportion and it can turn into a great big snowball."

“So my feeling for Giovanni is, let them do this investigation or whatever it is they are doing and the truth will come out. So we don’t judge anybody until I know absolutely 100 per cent."

She added: "I won’t pass on the gossip unless I know 100 per cent it is true. I have never ever, ever experienced any ill will or bad feeling or bad sportsmanship or rudeness from him. He will be missed."

Another dancer, Korina Travis, has issued more accusations against him. Speaking out in a recent tabloid interview, Giovanni's former dancer partner stated: "I’ve known him for years as a fellow competitor and he has done horrendous things to me. I will not speak about my experiences with him but I’m glad the world is seeing him for who he truly is."

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