Giovanni Pernice makes grand gesture to honour Rose Ayling Ellis and their Strictly win

'We are the champions'

Just when we thought we couldn't love the bond between Strictly Come Dancing 2021 champions, Giovanni Pernice and Rose Aylin-Ellis, any more, he goes and does this...

The 31-year-old dancing professional lifted the glitterball trophy with the EastEnders actress last month, but he is still not over their win, which marks the first time he has won the competition in the six years he has taken part in the BBC One show.

The ballroom pro has debuted a new tattoo to mark his win with Rose, 27, to add to his vast collection of inking.

To honour the special moment Giovanni went under the needle to get a glitterball trophy, with "SCD", which stands for Strictly Come Dancing, alongside the date "18.12.2021" etched on his wrist.

He shared a photo of the new body art on his Instagram Story, which expires after 24 hours on the photo sharing site.

Alongside the close up, he wrote: "We are the champions, we are the champions", and tagged his dance partner in the upload.

Giovanni and Rose wowed audiences with their ballroom routines throughout the competition, but it was their silent dance routine to Zara Larsson's Symphony, which featured a special tribute to those who are deaf or have a loss of hearing like Rose, that was the most memorable dance, which had judges in floods of tears.

Since their win last month, the pair have recently reunited to embark on the first leg of the Strictly Come Dancing tour, which kicked off at Birmingham Arena on Thursday 20 January.

While Giovanni has honoured Rose with the tattoo, Rose has previously showered him with gratitude in a heartfelt Instagram post.

Alongside a string of images of the duo posted on her Instagram account, she wrote: "I'm dedicating this post to the most wonderful human ever, Giovanni. The person who was there everyday with me for four months, who knows truly what this journey has been for me, the reason why I have become confident within myself. He came into my world and brought the best out of me. I cannot thank him enough for all the work and effort to make me become the dancer that I am today. Winning the Glitterball is the best gift I could ever give to Giovanni because he really deserves it. I am beyond proud of us. I never thought I would leave Strictly with a best friend for life, thank you Gio.