Strictly Come Dancing professional Graziano Di Prima has opened up about his family back in Italy, revealing that they've only watched the live show once in the five years he's been in the cast.
The 29-year-old made his debut in series 16 alongside radio presenter Vick Hope and has since been partnered with Judi Love, Kym Marsh and this year's Zara McDermott.
Speaking to OK! in an exclusive interview, Graziano said that his family visited the UK for his first show of 2021, when he was dancing with Judi.
"They had to move my dad out of the audience because he was crying too much, he wouldn’t stop," he said.
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Zara added that if the pair win Strictly 2023, she plans on taking Graziano back to his hometown of Sicily.
“That would honestly be my dream because Graz is just the most amazing person in the world," she said.
"Strictly for someone like him and his family was so out of reach, so I don’t think his family would even believe it if we won.”
Graziano is dancing with Love Island star Zara McDermott in this year's competition and revealed that he had to give Zara a pep talk when they landed in the bottom two for this year's Movie Week.
"When they called our names and we went into a room to warm up for 10 minutes, I could see she was thinking, ‘What are we going to do?’ I just said, ‘Hey – you know everything,'" he said.
"'Show me once and forever that you care about this journey and you deserve to stay because of all your hard work.’ I could see the muscles in her face relax and she looked at me like, ‘I’ve got this.’”
Graziano is married to fellow dancer Giada Lini, who is a professional on Italy's version of Strictly Come Dancing in Rome.
The couple tied the knot in Sicily last year with Strictly co-star Johannes Radebe due to be his best man, however unfortunately due to visa issues, Johannes was unable to make the ceremony.
"In the morning he told me, ‘I know I’m not there but I’ve been crying all night and my heart will be beside you.’ He also said he had dressed up as though he was at the wedding, but he was at his apartment at home," Graziano told OK!.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays at 6:30pm on BBC One.
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