UNDER-fire Giovanni Pernice bizarrely compared himself to Baby Reindeer stalker Martha as he returned to the stage.
The ex-Strictly dancer, 33, reunited with show judge Anton Du Beke for their Together tour and he thanked his former colleague for support amid bullying claims.
Speaking at The Hexagon theatre in Reading on Saturday night, Giovanni told his co-star: “I have basically become a bit obsessed with you. I like everything you do.
“I want to be as great as you are. It is a bit like Baby Reindeer. When I met you life changed.”
Baby Reindeer is Netflix’s hit series based on comedian Richard Gadd’s real life experience with stalker Fiona Harvey.
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Gadd plays struggling comic Donny, whilst Jessica Gunning plays a version of Fiona called Martha.
Giovanni’s peculiar declaration comes at a particularly bad time.
Yesterday The Sun reported that BBC investigators have been told he grabbed his crotch in front of dance partners during rehearsals.
A source explained: “It’s alleged he would grab his crotch in front of them if they did something good in rehearsals.”
The allegation makes for a worrying comparison to Baby Reindeer, which includes a scene where stalker Martha grabs comic Donny by the crotch when she hunts him down late at night.
The new claims come after we revealed the BBC was looking into complaints of bullying against Giovanni from three former celebrity partners, including Sherlock actress Amanda and TV presenter Laura Whitmore.
Since then, Giovanni has quit the BBC dance show but yesterday issued his own statement saying he “rejected any suggestions of abusive or threatening behaviour.”
He added: “As requested, I have stayed silent, but I am looking forward to the conclusion of the investigation.
“I am so happy to be back on tour and I look forward to clearing my name.”
Elsewhere in the performance, Anton, 57, suggested that the BBC were sticking by Giovanni behind the scenes.
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Speaking of their joint travelogue, he added: “We did Sicily the first year and then Spain for the second series this year. So hopefully we are going to do something in the future.
“I have no idea of where we are going to go - we did think about the Home Counties like south Oxfordshire.”
