The Italian dancer stormed to victory in the BBC dance competition with EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021.
Rose, who is Deaf, was praised for raising awareness and creating visibility for her community, and there was a major increase in members of the public wanting to learn sign language after she appeared on the show.
One of her and Giovanni’s most famous catchphrases, if you will, was the way they thanked their supporters for voting them through each week, as they repeated: ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ while signing.
This year, Gio is paired with radio DJ Richie Anderson, but Rose is still with him in spirit, as he continued to use sign language while thanking the public for voting him and Richie through.
The pair, who follow in John Whaite and Johannes Radebe’s footsteps as Strictly’s second male-male couple, survived to dance another week, and it was Loose Woman Kaye Adams who was axed in the first elimination of the series.
Richie and Giovanni appeared gobsmacked upon learning that they were through, as Richie’s jaw dropped and he jumped up and down, hugging Gio.
But, it’s no surprise to us that they couple escaped the dance off, as the delivered a fabulous cha cha cha in week one, then scored four eights from the judges for their dazzling quickstep in week two.
Richie and Giovanni actually weren’t the only couple to use sign language to say thank you after being saved by the public, as presenter Helen Skelton and partner Gorka Marquez did the same.
Paralympian Ellie Simmonds and her Ukrainian pro partner Nikita Kuzmin also slipped in the sign for ‘thank you’ after Tess Daly read out their names.
On Saturday night, Ellie and Nikita showcased a powerful waltz, leaving the gold medallist herself in tears at the end, overwhelmed with emotion following a ‘challenging’ week trying to adapt their routine, as Ellie has dwarfism.
Viewers at home were quick to pick up on the stars’ use of sign language, getting all emotional on Twitter.
‘It’s so cute that Giovanni still does the BSL for “thank you” when he goes through, I love that,’ one person tweeted.
‘It’s heartening to see that Giovanni is still promoting deaf awareness on Strictly by signing “thank you” tonight, even though he no longer dances with Rose,’ wrote another.
Richie and Giovanni now sail through to movie week with their fellow contestants, including Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova, who were saved in the dance-off against Kaye and her partner Kai Widdrington.
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday and Sunday on BBC One.
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