Welcome to The Spotlight. I’m Dolly Busby, Showbusiness Reporter at the Daily Mail, bringing you the latest while Katie Hind is on holiday.
In a Daily Mail exclusive, we have a three-part serialisation of former Strictly pro dancer Giovanni Pernice’s explosive new memoir. If you think you’ve already heard everything about his partnership with Amanda Abbington… you’re about to discover just how much was happening off‑camera.
Across the three parts, Giovanni lifts the lid on the tensions, the emotional fallout and the moments that pushed both him and the show into territory no one expected. It’s raw, it’s revealing and it’s the closest look yet at how a glitter‑drenched primetime pairing unravelled behind the scenes.
We also reveal all the details that resulted in the police being called to former Love Island stars Molly Smith and Tom Clare’s wedding festivities in Majorca.
Here’s what else you can’t miss this week:
Emily Atack has opened her wedding album and we take a look back at her rollercoaster love life before she married Alistair Garner.
Danny Cipriani and AnnaLynne McCord are married after setting up a ‘tacky and distasteful’ crowdfunding page to fund their nuptials.
Jennifer Lopez was spotted leaving lunch with her manager, just days after she came close to running into ex-husband Ben Affleck.
I’ll always tell you the unvarnished truth about celebs. So, what do you want to know? Email your questions to spotlight@dailymail.co.uk and I’ll report back in a future newsletter.
The Tea: Which Traitors star has come out by posting loved-up snaps with his new boyfriend on Instagram?
Strictly Come Dancing’s former Italian Stallion, Giovanni Pernice, has lifted the lid on what really happened with the actress Amanda Abbington after her accusations of bullying and inappropriate behaviour resulted in his sacking from the show after nine years.
In his new memoir Gio: Taking The Lead, which was exclusively serialised by the Daily Mail, he revealed how the allegations left him feeling suicidal and at his lowest point. He almost ‘ended it all’ as those who he thought were his friends turned their backs on him.
The 35-year-old wrote: ‘In my darkest days, there was no “family”. With the exception of the judges, it felt that they all turned their backs and looked the other way. With some of the cast, that didn’t surprise me as we weren’t close, but there were a handful I had thought were good friends who went very quiet. I felt hugely betrayed by those I’d been closest to.’
The dancer has also said the BBC ‘failed’ to safeguard the celebrities taking part.
In excerpts shared with the Daily Mail, he writes: ‘On many reality TV shows participants are given psychological assessments before being signed, but to my knowledge, none were carried out on the Strictly celebrity contestants to ensure they were mentally able to cope with the challenge. This is a big mistake by the BBC and it puts the celebrities and the pro dancers at risk. Put simply, I think the corporation failed us.’
Jennifer Lopez embraced the summer heat in West Hollywood as she met her manager for lunch in a backless white dress, brown platform heels, giant sunglasses and a Christian Louboutin handbag.
Just days earlier, J Lo had been spotted at a building where she and ex-husband Ben Affleck both have offices. Ben’s $360,000 Cadillac appeared to be parked in the garage when she arrived, and he was later seen leaving the building.
Did they bump into each other? Either way, J Lo’s unbothered.
Newlyweds Molly Smith and Tom Clare’s post-wedding festivities got so rowdy the local police were called to cool down the party.
The Love Island couple, who tied the knot in Majorca over the weekend, apparently weren’t quite ready for the celebrations to end after saying ‘I do’ on Saturday.
The party continued in wild style with a slew of friends, family and co-stars gathering at the Suculenta Port de Soller restaurant, where the sun shone, booze flowed, and the bride and groom and their guests took a dip in the nearby sea.
But best man Casey O’Gorman apparently took things a step too far, launching himself into the port next to the restaurant, despite swimming there being forbidden.
Casey couldn’t wipe the grin off his face even as police arrived to tell him off, and he soon carried on partying as if nothing had happened.
Honestly, if that’s not a successful Love Island wedding, what is?
For the record
On this day in 1980, the late David Bowie was top of the UK charts with his hit Ashes To Ashes. But his love life was in ashes too. Bowie had just divorced his first wife Angie, mother to his son Duncan Jones.
What’s your take? Email us at spotlight@dailymail.co.uk and you might be featured in a future newsletter.
The Tea answer: Freddie Fraser has come out by sharing pictures of him kissing his influencer partner Bailey Ramsden, a year after splitting from his ex-girlfriend.
See you next week!
Do you have a story for us? Email Spotlight@DailyMail.co.uk
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