Giovanni Pernice made a 'race to the exit' after his and Richie Anderson's Strictly Come Dancing axe, according to a body language expert.
Judi James has revealed Giovanni appeared to be making a "race to the exit" as he and Richie Anderson bowed out of the competition tonight, after losing in the dance off to Fleur East and her partner Vito Coppola.
Judi says that Giovanni was resigned to the fact they'd be the ones going, and then when it was finally revealed there was an "awkward" goodbye shared between the two of them.
Craig Revel Horwood, Anton du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all agreed to save Fleur but Shirley insisted she would have saved Richie and Giovanni.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, she said: "As they waited for their final verdicts Giovanni’s body language three strongest cues revealed impatience.
"His index finger tapped emphatically on Richie’s shoulder in a metronomic gesture; his head nodded in agreement when Fleur was chosen, with the nodding also becoming a metronomic ritual, and even his blink rate increased, with all three gestures suggesting a desire to get things over with.
"Giovanni patted Richie hard and the two men stood awkwardly together after the result, with Gio’s hands clasped in front of his fake belly and only one brief pat and hug as he said 'lovely jubbly.'"
Of their final moment on Strictly together, she added: "Their last dance was more like a wrestling match, with Richie again doing his own thing rather than mirroring Gio before Gio picked the bigger man up and swung him round in a state of ungainly helplessness."
Judi also insisted Giovanni was already aware it would be his final dance with Richie.
"There was an air of total resignation from Giovanni’s body language tonight as he waited for what he clearly considered to be the inevitable exit from the show following his dance-off with Richie," she added.
"While Richie performed a fig leaf pose after hearing he was in the bottom two, with his hands clasped in front of his torso in a gesture of dejection and submission, Gio’s hard patting of him looked more like a farewell than a motivational technique."
After their exit was confirmed, Giovanni told Richie: "I have to say it’s been an honour to be able to dance with you because I know how much you love Strictly Come Dancing, you really are a super fan.
"And I’m glad that you got to do this experience and glad that I got to do it with you. It’s been a shame its been too short for us but I hope you’ve enjoyed every single second of it, and it stays in your heart forever.
"Look at us we’ve gone out dressed as Timon and Pumbaa. So lovely jubbly, well done Richie."
*Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.
