Gorka Marquez has been inundated with support as he confirms his future on Strictly Come Dancing.

After months of speculation, the BBC announced which dancers would be strutting their stuff on the dance floor in September today. In bombshell news, Gorka’s colleague, Giovanni Pernice, 33, will not be appearing on the show in the wake of the bullying claims made against him, which he denies.

However, Spanish star, Gorka, 33, will be back in the saddle and took to Instagram sharing his good news. Captioning a snap of himself, sporting a black suit in a hotel room, he wrote: “Excited to be back for my 9th Series of @bbcstrictly and specially to celebrate 20 years of the best Show on TV.Keep Dancing…”

Gorka Marquez
Gorka Marquez has taken to Instagram celebrating his return to Strictly Come Dancing ( 
Image:
Instagram)

Giovanni Pernice
Giovanni Pernice will not be appearing on Strictly in September ( 

Image:

WireImage)

His legion of loyal fans were quick to reply as Strictly star, Amy Dowden, who is also coming back to the show following her brave battle with breast cancer, wrote: “Yes G x.” Meanwhile, another fan wrote: “Yesss so glad you’re back xx” while another posted: “Wouldn’t be the same without you.”

However, another follower referenced Giovanni’s absence from the primetime show as they responded: “Always excited for it, but it won’t be the same without Gio. Massive, massive loss for the show.”

Giovanni has been on Strictly for eight years, but the Sicilian’s future looked uncertain on the show after Amanda Abbington, who was partnered with the Italian last year, branded him “nasty” following allegations about his “threatening and abusive” behaviour in the training room at Strictly, which Giovanni denies. The BBC is said to have launched an internal investigation after receiving complaints from his previous dance partners on the show, which are also said to include Laura Whitmore.

Giovanni broke his silence on Amanda’s exit for the first time to The Mirror earlier this year. Speaking on our Invite Only podcast Giovanni admitted: “I am a perfectionist, 100%, but it comes from a perspective of caring.” The star has been a huge part of the Strictly cast, even

winning the show back in series 19 with Rose Ayling-Ellis. Giovanni managed to come second in his first series alongside Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote and also came second in series 15 and 16 with Debbie McGee and Faye Tozer. Series 20 was less successful for the dancer, however, when he and Richie Anderson came 14th.

It has now been confirmed which dancers will be back on Strictly in September, including Gorka and Amy. Joining them will be Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas and Vito Coppola.