Giovanni Pernice apologises and issues warning as fan scammed out of thousands

The Strictly Come Dancing pro, 32, spoke out on the worrying incident in a video for his one million followers to see.

He captioned the warning: “Please listen carefully to this message! Let’s not let them get away with it again! Love you all.”

“This morning I arrived at the theatre and reception called and said, ‘there is this young lady waiting for you downstairs’, because apparently I gave her a time and a place to meet. (sic)

“She said we spoke last night, you spoke to me, we did FaceTime, we exchanged pictures.”

Giovanni continued: “The most horrible thing is the fact that she sent £3,000 to this person that’s pretending to be me, well this criminal that’s pretending to be me.”

He added: “Now, I know that Instagram and any other social media platform, is a huge platform, but they’re also very, very dangerous.”

The TV star emphasised that his verified profile is the only account he has, and to get in contact with him via his verified account or his agent.

He continued: “I’m very sorry if any viewers have been in this situation before, but I’m just trying to prevent what’s going to be the future as well”. (sic)

He continued: “It’s bad, because this morning was very sad seeing this woman very upset.”

“Let’s not make this happen again, send you love,” Giovanni said as he ended the discussion. (sic)

His followers responded to his important message, with user Lisa commenting: “This is so sad and I hope the poor lady gets her money back somehow. It must be awful for both of you.”

Another fan, Julie, added: “People need to stop being so trusting on social media. I trust no one!”

Strictly’s head judge Shirley Ballas commented: “Very sad indeed.”

The news comes amid Giovanni celebrating his new career venture into lifestyle products.

Earlier this month, the Sicilian-born dancer shared that he was debuting a new unisex fragrance in a business with his friends, and entrepreneurs, Giacomo Tontarelli and Nicholas Hill.