My thoughts exactly. I always look in the background when Claudia is with the couples and he looks relaxed and happy for other couples , which is more than some of the older pro's manage. I think it's all an act too - maybe trying to find his niche?. Should just stick to being natural .

Thats exactly how I saw it too (towards his fellow Italian, Bruno). Disagreeing with judges comments is hardly a new thing among the pros (and many have spoke out or disagreed much stronger than Giovanni did) but being spoken to in that way by Len was what stood out for me.

Disagreeing and defending your partner is very admirable, shaking your head is not

I'm actually really disappointed by Len. It seemed to me to be a chance to assert some dominance, knowing that with Gio being new to the show he might not have the confidence to answer back. Whatever it was, it was bizarre and unnecessary, and I've lost what little respect I already had for Len.

Exactly either put up a proper defence or, smile, take it on the chin and move on.

I Len is old school so I can understand why he was frustrated with Giovanni as he is an arrogant man. Doesn't make Giovanni a bad person or give me a reason to dislike him though.

Well its a matter of opinion. Some celebs disagree and get their point across by way of sarcastic humour (Anton) or arguing back in an angry way (James and Brendan) and I remember a few others making points or disagreeing. Some may think shaking his head is more arrogant than speaking out, I don't see it that way....I think he was disagreeing in a quieter way, but each to their own opinion. IMO, Lens talking down to him was much MORE arrogant.

Oh dear god! Really? Really! Take a grip of yourself .

Here's another one who likes him!

I like him. I honestly don't understand the hate for him. Yes, there's an arrogance about him, but I find him inoffensive.

We don't really know though, do we ? Is he really like that or just playing the part ?

Well I'd say hes playing the part. It looks more than obvious to me that hes been put in exactly the same role that Vincent had. I don't take that part seriously at all, but can appreciate why he'd be happy to play the role thats been given to him, since hes the new boy and hasn't had experience in similar shows like the other new pros have. I can imagine it would make it easier for him. I doubt he'd have thought that so many would take it so seriously though.

I do actually quite like him tbh and understand his reaction but yeah... sometimes showing exactly how you feel is not the best thing.

I think giovanni is an excellent Latin dancer and, whilst his rumba did lack some content, the number they were given to dance with fitted well with the choreography.
Some have said what right does he have to disagree with judges as he doesn't know better- eh, he does actually. He's a competitive Latin dancer which is more than can be said for Bruno, Darby and Craig- and Len, although a previous ballroom champ, danced in the old Latin and ballroom style- many competitive rumbas now would use a lot of the choreography giovanni used.
Nice to see some new pros on strictly with some competitive credentials.

He's greasy, sleazy and tacky. A trashy humorless Vincent without the self awareness. Len can be just as bad but the way Giovanni stood there, shaking his head and rolling his eyes when the comments were fair and harmless...I can see why Len lost his cool (as awkward as it was).

BBC needs to stop this scatter gun approach to professionals each year. Some of them it's a mystery what they were ever thinking.

Don't throw the baby out with bath water!

The Aussie bloke, Trent was invited to return but as he wanted his wife to join the show and the producers didn't want her, he declined. His response to Len was not arrogant. Len was riled up and did not hear Trent properly.

Many of the pros react to defend their partners. The marks do not distinguish between choreography and skill content and how it was danced. This is why Anton was falling on his sword; that's his way to try and protect his partner. I don't find Giovanni unlikeable. I wasn't keen on him to begin but slowly he's growing on me. Having said that I agreed with Len about the rumba. It was poor as a routine and did not reflect Georgia's abilities, or not. But I can't blame Giovanni for wanting to protect her, as with any other pro.

As for James Jordan: I"d have Gleb and Giovanni time over in place of him.

I was pleased Len had a go at Giovanni and I think Giovanni took it with good grace. Giovanni is new to the show and he needs to learn how to fit in. I really like Georgia. She has a great attitude and I am a little concerned that Giovanni may be thinking a little bit too much about himself rather than improving Georgia's dance and showcasing her in the dance. So I hope Len's complaint wakes Giovanni up a little.

I thought it seemed a bit ott for Len to tell giovanni off for just shaking his head. Plenty of pros have made disagreeing facial expressions or body language when listening to feedback and most of the time it's not an issue for judges. If Giovanni had started to verbalised or shown disagreement it in a fashion that seemed really unsporting and ungracious then I'd understand lens upset, but rather petty reaction, imo. Len got his say (which was fair in what he said) and Giovanni just showed some agreement, big deal.

From what was posted on other threads it was alleged that Trent wanted his wife, Gordana, to be a pro as well (she was a backing dancer last year - looks a bit like Aliona).
Those sorts of "demands" never go well for the Pro's it seems.

I don't understand the hate. I like Giovanni.

100% agree. At the end of the day, the Pros will automatically want to defend their celebs, even if they know the judges are right. The pros are ultimately the ones that have to pick the celebs up when things get a bit negative. Yes, Giovanni could have just stood and smiled, but why should he? If the Judges can rip a celeb to pieces, there's no harm in a pro simply shaking their head if they don't feel the celeb is getting the credit they think they deserve.

Whatever the opinions we have, it was really awkward though. It was obvious Giovanni was embarrased (possibly a bit ashamed?) and I felt bad. Seeing anyone spoken to like that in public (in this case on live TV to millions) is awkward for everyone.

I hope Giovanni doesn't now suffer Trent's fate.

Think that Brendan, James and Aliona would disagree with you

That's just three pros out of the lot of them, over the years plenty of them have shown enough disagreement (even with just a raised eye brow or unhappy face or frown) for viewers and judges alike to know they don't agree with every aspect of feedback, but the judges aren't going to tell them all off as that would be daft. If pros over verbalise a disagreement and then take it to another place (say back in the day when Brendan liked to help string the issue out with his disagreement going on even after leaving the dance floor) then yes I get it looks childish, but general disagreement surely doesn't matter.

I don't think what Giovanni did was as notably arrogant as what say James and Brendan have been known to act. Giovanni even said sorry, which is something Brendan and James didn't do after their past moments, so the difference between Giovanni is he didn't have any real intention in the first place to make a statement, prob didn't realise it was that bad and so apologised.

Trent! I loved Trent. His choreography was always amazing, unlike Tristan. Unless it was Trents decision, which I think I read somewhere, they definitely should have tried to keep him, instead of Tristan or Giovanni for that matter.

Len does seem to do that some times. He turns things into a personal vendetta. He's been over the top with Aliona on several occasions. I don't think he should be head judge. If there's a tie they should go back to voting public, he shouldn't have the final say. It gives him too much vested interest.