Where did it all go wrong for Strictly’s Graziano Di Prima and Zara McDermott?

Strictly Come Dancing has been engulfed in another training scandal, with reports of Graziano Di Prima’s verbally and physically abusing his dance partner Zara McDermott.

In the wake of Giovanni Pernice’s ‘bullying’ scandal, producers have stepped in and sacked Italian dancer Graziano for his conduct, with the professional admitting in a statement that he ‘deeply regrets the events’ that led to his exit.

It has since emerged that show bosses were made aware of Graziano’s conduct at the time by production staff and quietly issued warnings to the dancer in response.

The news has come as a shock to many, as Graziano, 30, and Love Island star Zara, 27, appeared to be firm friends during the process.

Indeed, the pair hinted at many squabbles and disagreements in the rehearsal rooms, but these were turned into humorous TikTok videos.

Since allegations emerged that Graziano ‘kicked and hit’ Zara during rehearsals, these videos have been viewed in a different light.

On September 19, Zara shared a humorous video in which she claimed the professional had compared her to a ‘camel’.

Sharing a video of the pair at lunch, she added audio from an episode of The Kardashians, in which Kourtney and Khloe were rowing.

Graziano was seen as Kourtney Kardashian was heard saying: ‘I think you take things really sensitvely and that’s fine, I just need to not make those jokes with you.’

It then cut to Zara as Khloe Kardashian replied: ‘No, I think they’re just rude.’

As the camera panned back to Graziano, Kourtney said: ‘Well to me it’s a joke but to you it’s rude so I wont make them.’

Zara captioned the video: ‘When I get upset after he told me I dance like a camel.’

Three days later, Zara poked fun at Graziano not giving her time to take a break, sharing a video of herself eating a sandwich while the dancer looked exasperated and declared: ‘We haven’t got time!’

The following month, Zara joked that the pair had been rowing about food.

She shared a clip of herself hiding from Graziano behind a curtain alongside audio footage from an iconic scene on This Morning in 2010.

In the audio, Holly Willoughby suggested that if Gino D’Acampo added ham to his pasta dish it would be like a carbonara, prompting him to respond: ‘If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike.’

Zara captioned the clip: ‘POV you’re talking to an Italian about pasta.’

Days before the pair were eliminated from the show in week six, Zara playfully bickered with Graziano as she revealed the intense training schedule had taken its toll, leaving her suffering from extreme exhaustion and sleeping on the floor.

After Graziano shared a video of Zara napping she was quick to hit back by claiming she had done ‘double the workload’ of her professional partner.

As the Italian dancer revealed: ‘She asked me 5 minutes break @zaramcdermott’, Zara reposted the clip by adding: ‘I think I’ve clocked about 50k steps already today with this routine. Give me a break pls?’

She later shared a selfie of herself heading to rehearsals that she captioned: ‘Graz just had the audacity to call me and tell me his legs hurt after rehearsals yesterday when he spent 50% of the day sitting down and analysing me doing the routine on my own.