Strictly's Giovanni Pernice plans Celebrity Hunted's 'best escape' from Cardiff drag show but it goes hilariously wrong

Celebrity Hunted's Giovanni Pernice's "best escape" saw the star hide alongside professional dancer, Kai Widdrington, in a Cardiff pub while in drag, before making a huge error. The two, who have starred in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, are appearing in the sixth series of Channel 4's Celebrity Hunted, alongside the likes of Duncan James from Blue, model Christine McGuinness and Loose Women panellist Denise Welch.

After narrowly escaping the hunters at a luxury dog hotel in Somerset, Giovanni and Kai had made it to Cardiff in the third episode of the brand new series. While in the Welsh capital, the duo said they were planning on "the best escape that ever existed in the history of Hunted".

Their master plan began with a meeting with Matt Hume, Gio's head of wardrobe. "We dress up for a living," Kai explained. "We wear sparkly outfits, Cuban heels, flared trousers. We're up for the whole shabang." Although Giovanni predicted that the hunters would underestimate them as dancers, the two planned on dressing up to hide their true identities. Kai would be dressing up as Mrs Doubtfire, while Gio was dressed in drag. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.

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"We almost got caught once, so we can't make the same mistake," Giovanni explained. "We're going to plan the best escape that ever existed in the history of Hunted. I am going to escape from them and this is the point I want to prove. So we want to be seen in Cardiff today. But by the time they come towards us, we'll be out of here."

During the show, the duo headed to the nearby pub - The Golden Cross, right in Cardiff's city centre, where they would be performing a show in drag. After the two gave a stellar performance to the song I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor in front of a few Welsh punters, the two cockily carried out the next part of their plan, letting the hunters know where they are by posting clip of them dressed in drag on the pub's social media page.

It did not take long before the hunters found the two on the pub's social media page, with one hunter remarking it was "the best they've looked". While the hunters quickly searched for CCTV footage of the two at the pub, the duo were busy planning the next part of their escape.

To escape undetected, Gio and Kai arranged a car to drive them a mile down the road, which would be away from the pub's CCTV. At the other point, the two would find another car, which would then take them to London.

But in a short journey from cocky to cock-up, both cars turned up to the same location, leaving both Gio and Kai in a bit of a dilemma. Hoping that the car-switch would be quick on CCTV, the Strictly duo continued with their plans. While watching the CCTV footage, the hunters couldn't determine if the car dilemma was some kind of a "clever ruse", or that they had indeed done "something really stupid". Regardless, the hunters decided to follow both cars. "Let's see if they can cha-cha-cha their way out of this one," head hunter Ray said.

Despite Gio and Kai’s attempt at throwing the hunters off their trail, the hunters' headquarters had tracked their vehicle to London. But the hunters couldn't stop them in their tracks, especially when Gio, dressed as a pizza delivery guy, turned up to their headquarters with two pizza boxes and a signed t-shirt by him and Kai.

One hunter said: "To get to London and do this, they’ve had to do a massive decoy in Wales, they’ve had to risk going to the capital city that’s the most surveilled in the world, so they’ve got to be here for something really significant."

Even though, the hunters were able to track that the two were really close to their building, Gio successfully dropped off his gifts unnoticed. After leaving the pizza boxes in reception, Gio blew a kiss at the CCTV camera before making a quick dash.

A bit later on in the episode, Kai and Gio found themselves close to being caught once again. The duo had ended up at an associate's house in Hertfordshire, before the hunters also quickly arrived. The end of the episode saw the Strictly duo making a quick exit from the house before the hunters could catch them, but leaving without their belongings and money.

Celebrity Hunted's fourth episode will be aired on Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday evening, January 26. You can catch up on the first three episodes here.