Strictly Come Dancing's Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice announce split

Former Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote has announced that she and boyfriend Giovanni Pernice have decided to end their relationship.

In a message posted to her Twitter account, Georgia told her 315,000 followers, 'Thank you for all your support for us during and after the series. I love you all very much. @pernicegiovann1 💕'.

An accompanying image, which Giovanni then retweeted, read, 'It is with great sadness we have decided to split up. There is nobody else involved. Although it was not an easy decision to make sometimes you realise that it is better to be friends and this is one of those times.'

'We both have very busy work schedules for the rest of the year so we are both going to focus on our upcoming work projects and we wish each other well for the future.'

Fans were quick to send messages of support, with one writing, 'Sad news to hear, use were a match made in heaven. But sometimes thing just aren't meant to be. #staystrong❤️' and another adding, 'Wishing you both all the very best for your future projects. You are both lovely and I hope you are both OK x'.

However, whilst many of the responses were positive, some critical comments about the authenticity of the couple's relationship began to emerge, to which Georgia later responded, 'Nothing i ever said about my feelings to gio were fake before people start. I still love him very very much. But things change. Please...'

'Be respectful to me at this time by not saying awful things. This is a hard time for me 😘'

Georgia and Giovanna met whilst filming last year's series of Strictly Come Dancing, and quickly became a couple.

Speaking to Star magazine in January 2016, she said, 'At the end of the [Strictly] tour it will be six months where we've been together every day.'

'We had such an amazing experience on Strictly. It's nice to be able to go on tour together now and experience this together now.'