Giovanni Capello (sometimes credited as “Giovanni Cupello“) is a student in Jeremy Brown‘s EFL class. He is played by George Camiller.

Giovanni is a practicing Catholic from Italy who is very interested in wine and having sex with women (even though he is unmarried and the Bible says “Thou shalt not fornicate with man nor beast”). He is possibly a traditionalist Catholic as he believes that only Catholics will go to Heaven while everyone else will go to Hell.^[1] He initially competes with Max for Danielle’s affections, but later they become friends and share a flat.^[2] They also buy a cockatoo named Polly, whose cage gets moved between their bedrooms each night.^[3] Giovanni’s other acquaintances include the lusty Vincenzo and his butcher Antonio.

Giovanni is the most outspoken student in Mr. Brown’s class and the de facto monitor when Mr. Brown has to step out. Although his English is very good, he tends to have trouble understanding long words and figures of speech and often plays the role of class clown. His catchphrases are “Okey-cokey”, “Scusi” and “Santa Maria!”, and he calls Mr. Brown “professore”. In “The First Lesson” he reveals that he is a chef in an Italian restaurant called Ristorante dei Popoli (“People’s Restaurant”). He, like Max, is a huge football fan and is also implied to be a fan of Doctor Who, since he says in “Season 3 Episode 1” that he’s seen Dr. Who and the Daleks on television.

Giovanni has several other first names (or middle names), including Vincenzo, Marco, Dino, Alberto and Leonardo, as revealed when he asks how he can fit them all on a form he’s filling out.

Giovanni is one of the four original students who is still part of Mr. Brown’s class in Season 4.