Heightened tension was evident on this morning's Good Morning Britain (July 19), as ex-Strictly Come Dancing professional Vincent Simone and GMB host Rob Rinder had a fiery exchange.
Simone made an appearance via video feed following the recent announcement that the BBC plans to implement chaperones for all Strictly rehearsals in response to grumbles about some professionals from the popular dance show.
In one of the latest developments, a representative for previous Strictly star Graziano Di Prima confirmed that the dancer had kicked his partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals for last year's series. He mentioned that while Di Prima couldn't recall the incident, he made an apology promptly after the event.
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A formal declaration issued on Di Prima's behalf read: "This week, the news agenda has focused on an isolated incident that Mr Di Prima deeply regrets and apologised for at the time. The deluge of commentary, too often without context or nuance, has provoked a pile-on that has left a young man in a very vulnerable state. In this case, like in many others, media and social media have immense power to build and destroy careers."
Both Rinder and his GMB co-host Charlotte Hawkins are former Strictly participants. The show's discussion shifted towards whether there is an issue with male dancers interacting with their female celebrity partners, rather than female professionals with their male celebrity partners, reports the Express.
Rinder named it a "culture problem" that has infiltrated a "lovely show." This perspective was dismissed by Simone, who responded with a gesture towards the camera.
"We do this in Italy which means what are you talking about," he explained. "We respect women, women are the most beautiful thing and personally I'm nothing without them."
"Strict teachers, we have them in Italy like we have them in Europe and Russia for example. I know they are very strict and they love it, it is what makes them champions."
Charlotte Hawkins chimed in: "It is interesting... some of the discussion has involved the training the dancers themselves go through. Some of it has been more intense over the years."
On Twitter /X, one viewer commented: "This is a wider revelation to those who don't work in the performance world, therefore not confined to Strictly," while another took issue with the suggestion that only women undergo rigorous training, arguing Rinder's questioning "didn't land."