‘I broke down crying’: Everything Graziano’s previous Strictly partners have said about him

One partner considered quitting because her panic attacks had become so bad in rehearsals

5 months ago

Strictly Come Dancing professional Graziano Di Prima was sacked from the show this week after footage emerged from his rehearsals with one of his former dance partners, Zara McDermott. He has been sacked for gross misconduct after accusations of hitting, kicking and spitting at Zara during her time on the show.

Graziano made his first appearance as a professional on Strictly in 2018 with the first of his dancing partners, Vick Hope. Vick was very positive about her time on the show with him, although she did admit at the time that he’d been “working me really hard.” Alongside Zara, Graziano has had three previous partners on Strictly, here’s everything they said about him at the time.

Kym Marsh

Via BBC

Kym and Graziano were partnered together during the 2022 series of Strictly and were the tenth couple to be eliminated. Kym admitted that she’d thought about quitting the show after her panic attacks had started becoming really bad during rehearsals with Graziano. She explained: “It just came over me, almost out of nowhere, and I couldn’t carry on.”

However, Kym praised Graziano for helping her get through her anxiety and even started inviting him over for dinner once a week. She revealed: “It was Graziano who really pulled me through. He’s just the most incredible man and we’ve got really close, even though he had no idea who I was beforehand. Now he comes over to our house once a week for dinner.”

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The two became so close that Kym compared him to a “little brother”, telling Hello! magazine: “He’s very quickly become like a little brother to me. Graziano is from a big family himself and is very family-orientated so it was important for us to build a friendship and I wanted to integrate him into the family. He’s fit in really well. Everyone loves him.”

Judi Love

Via BBC

Judi was paired up with him in 2021 and despite being the fifth couple to be axed from the show, they still stayed in touch after leaving Strictly. Judi revealed she also struggled a lot during the show and broke down in tears after a very challenging week of rehearsals.

She admitted at the time: “This week is Movie Week and I’m doing the Charleston. There are a few bits I found really challenging and I had to keep reminding myself to be light on my toes. You think because you’ve done a bit of dancing you should know what you’re doing a little bit, but no I was learning from scratch again! I cried during rehearsals as I was in complete shock that I’d managed to do the whole thing! So far a lot of my dances have been about strong, flamboyant women, so I’m looking forward to doing some softer characters.”

Vick Hope

Via BBC

Vick Hope was Graziano’s first partner on the show when he joined Strictly in 2018. After the two were eliminated Vick tweeted: “Graz, bello, so much love to you. Thank you for being so hard-working, kind and patient. You’re such a special guy and an amazing dancer, it’s been a pleasure to dance with you and, more importantly, get to know you. Ciao per ora amica mia, grazie!”

She also confessed that he’d been working hard “really hard” throughout rehearsals but that it was “really fun.” She told Strictly’s official podcast: “He’s just the sweetest, kindest guy. He’s been working me really hard. It’s been really fun. We’ve just had a really nice time, haven’t we? It’s good. We get on really well. I’ve been so lucky to be matched with a partner that has the same energy levels as me. We want to work in the same sort of way and exert ourselves to the same level.”