THEY’VE competed against each other on Strictly and spent most of this year treading the boards as a duo.
Now Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice are even going on holiday together.
The finished result will form a travelogue for BBC1, which will be filmed this summer and air just after the dance contest returns in the autumn.
Called Giovanni And Anton: Adventures In Sicily, it sees the Italian stallion take Strictly’s new judge back to where he was born and raised.
A TV insider said: “Telly travelogues seem to be all the rage right now, but producers know they only work if their hosts have the right dynamic.
“With Giovanni they have the smooth sex appeal and in Anton they have his self-deprecating humour.
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"Together they’re a no-brainer for execs.
“And of course they couldn’t be outdone by fellow Strictly stars Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli, whose jaunt round the UK proved a hit on ITV last year.”
A second series of Bruno And Craig’s Great British Road Trips is planned, so Giovanni and Anton will have some direct competition.
They aren’t their only rivals either.
Other celeb duos hitting the road include Miriam Margolyes and Alan Cumming, who will be touring LA and San Francisco in their show for Channel 4, and EastEnders star Danny Dyer and daughter Dani also have a travelogue in the pipeline, again for C4.
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However, Anton and Gio will be hoping the Italian element will give their show the edge.
Plus they know they will get along with each other on the road because they’re currently touring with their Him And Me tour.
Here’s hoping they don’t get caught up in any airport chaos — otherwise they might not be back in time for Strictly’s September start.
OWEN LABEL
THEY say that an army marches on its stomach.
But in the Love Island villa, the battle rests on their skimpy swimwear.
And in what I’m sure you’ll agree is very important research, Gemma Owen has been revealed as the bikini bank-buster of the series.
Michael Owen’s daughter has sported a whopping £500-worth of cossies – almost double the value of the other girls’ collections including Ekin-Su’s £245-worth and Danica’s £230.
But Gem’s not been splurging on her England legend dad’s credit card, as the top notch togs are actually from her own swimwear brand.
Also working hard last night was Dami Hope, who begged Indiyah Polack for a second chance after ditching her during Casa Amor.
He gushed: “There was a possible connection there with Summer but I don’t feel like the way I feel like when we’re together.
"It’s incomparable to what I feel we have.”
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BRISTOL has launched a bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year after 2022 winners Ukraine stepped down.
The city’s mayor Marvin Rees said of welcoming the show, which will air on the BBC: “As a city of sanctuary, Bristol can be the caretaker next year.”
KATE: I’LL LIVE MY OWN LIFE
KATE GARRAWAY has revealed that she has been hard at work planning her second series of Life Stories.
The telly host took over the reins of the ITV talk show from Piers Morgan when he left the channel.
And Kate has confessed she is excited for the primetime programme to finally feel like her own.
She said: “Life Stories is coming back, so that’s nice.
“Piers is Piers, and he’s amazing, but I think it will be interesting with another series to see if it feels more like mine – rather than like I’m borrowing it from Piers.”
The casting exec for Life Stories promised Kate’s wishlist of guests was “exciting” and should make for a great series.
Somehow Kate has managed to fit in this work alongside her duties on Good Morning Britain and caring for her stricken hubby, Derek.
What an amazing woman.
HUGH’S A BEAVER BELIEVER
HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL’S return to telly has been exactly what we all needed in these troubling times.
And the telly chef has more wholesome tales for us on this week’s River Cottage Reunited.
This week Hugh discovers that beavers have returned to the River Brit thanks to a rewilding project.
In tonight’s show, at 9pm on More4, he says: “This is the original gate that I walked through 23 years ago and I had no idea my life was changing forever.
“I wanted to escape city life, learn how to live off the land sustainably, growing my own veg and keeping my own livestock.
"With a hammock between those two trees, the idea I might be in there and a beaver swim straight past me, that’s exciting."
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CORONATION Street fans will be rocked this week as Kelly Neelan finds herself imprisoned in a dark cellar.
Well-meaning Kelly tried to right her criminal father’s wrongs but ends up in big trouble.
Actress Millie Gibson said: “Kelly is distraught. She has hit rock bottom.”
KIDS ARE TAKING MY BUSH
THERE’S not been a TV series as universally loved as Stranger Things in a good while, with audiences across the globe lapping up its barnstorming finale series.
Well, everyone except Marvel director Taika Waititi, that is.
He’s taken real umbrage at Netflix bosses’ choice of music for the sci-fi romp – Kate Bush in particular.
In the kind of rant I expect from my own dad, Taika said: “I love that show, but as someone who feels a real ownership of Kate Bush music . . . I’m really annoyed.
“I’ve become one of those old a***holes who’s like, ‘These kids never listened to Kate Bush, they’ve heard one song on a TV show!
"They don’t know Kate Bush! I know Kate Bush!’ ”
Where was Taika when Peter Kay and Matt Lucas covered The Proclaimers’ song I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) for Comic Relief, eh?
BBC FINDS FACEBOOK DATA SALE
IT TURNS out there is a less-savoury side to all the birthday messages, pictures of cats and throwback memories on Facebook.
A BBC investigation by Morning Live has found that the social media giant has allowed the sale of thousands of people’s personal data for as little as 16p a time.
Matt Allwright and his team bought details of 1,000 Brits, including their home addresses, emails, estimated net worth, and an estimated income bracket.
Matt said: “We were so shocked to learn Facebook was allowing these types of sales.
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"This is invaluable to scammers and cyber criminals, and there’s no way it should be available online.”
Learn more on Morning Live today at 9.15am on BBC1 or catch up on BBC iPlayer.
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