11 November 2023 , 19:00
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Ellie Leach is radiating infectious happiness when she bounds up for our late-night photoshoot with her Strictly Come Dancing partner Vito Coppola by her side.
After a year of heartbreak, the former Coronation Street actress, 22, has got her groove back and is blossoming before our eyes in the arms of Vito every Saturday night.
Competing for the Strictly Glitterball is famously grueling, with stars given just four days to learn their choreography before performing live in front of millions. However, for Ellie, the muscles that are working the hardest are in her cheeks, simply from spending all day smiling.
“Every day we have so much fun and I go home and I’m like, ‘Oh my cheeks!’ laughs Ellie. “We’re just having such a good time. It’s a roller coaster, but everything is just amazing. Everything is 100% heightened.”
Before Strictly brought its upbeat razzle-dazzle into her heart, Ellie was struggling. Her five-year relationship with boyfriend Reagan Pettman hit the rocks over cheating allegations, and at the same time she was written out of Corrie. Ellie joined the soap aged just 10, tackled huge storylines and spent more than half her life playing teen mum Faye Windass.
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Her co-stars rallied round and showered her with gifts when she left the cobbles, but inside Ellie was devastated. When she arrived on Strictly, Ellie had never danced before and was terrified by the idea of performing live.
Ellie and Vito are currently competing on Strictly“Self-confidence is something I’ve always struggled with,” she confesses. “Before going on Strictly I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do it.’ I never would have expected to be performing live in front of so many people. But now we just do it every week and it kind of feels like my normal life. I’m not completely confident but every week we’re progressing, and that’s something I’m really proud of.”
Having Vito as her champion undoubtedly helps. The Italian professional, who calls her “Baby”, hugs her constantly and insists they make training fun. He has inspired her to enjoy life and to push herself beyond her comfort zone.
The two have become a fan favourite (BBC)“Every single day he says to me, ‘I believe in you… You can do this… I know you can… Just believe in yourself.’ That’s probably the biggest thing he’s taught me, aside from dancing. He’s like, ' I believe in you and you just need to believe in yourself.’”
Vito is thrilled to have such a hard-working partner. Ellie has been winning 10s from the judges and even pushed West End star Layton Williams off the top of the leaderboard on Halloween week with her salsa, despite never having danced before she signed up for the show.
Vito says, “I love working with her. It’s better to dance with people who have never done it before because you start with a white page. She never did any sports, any movement, any dancing. I say: ‘Perfect!’”
Her lack of experience means that Vito has been able to mould her into his ideal dancer, impressing viewers and judges alike. “We start from zero, build the muscles, do the exercise for the core, push-ups, squats, warm up, choreography and afterwards we do the technique,” explains Vito. “At the end of the day we do stretching.”
Vito says he 'loves' working with actress Ellie (@ellielouiseleach/Instagram)
The pair have been setting the dancefloor alight (PA)Vito’s routine is paying off and Ellie has transformed her body along with her happiness and self-belief. “I’ve lost a lot of weight,” she says. “You’re training so much. I still need to work on my fitness levels but even the dance we’re doing this week, I wouldn’t have been able to do three weeks ago.”
Before Strictly, Ellie wanted to get fit but was uninspired by working out. “I’ve never really been into physical activity or going to the gym and stuff like that,” she says. “But I’ve always loved watching people dance. So to be able to learn how to do it now, it’s amazing. My body and my mindset are changing so much each day. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost but I can feel myself getting stronger, which I think is great.”
Ellie certainly looks incredible on the show and after spending all her time on Coronation Street dressed in either school uniform or one of Faye’s drab cardigans, she is enjoying being whirled through the BBC ’s glitziest dressing-up box.
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“The costumes and the hair and make-up are my favourite part about Strictly and always have been, even when I watched it when I was younger,” says Ellie. “The fact that I get to try all these different make-up looks and the costumes, it makes you feel 10 times better. When you put the costume on, everything changes and it all really comes together.”
On our photoshoot, the chemistry between the pair that has impressed Strictly viewers so much is very much in evidence. They lark around together with Vito twerking against Ellie, and at one point he even puts his jumper over her head.
Vito’s exuberant hugs and kisses at the end of dances have even led fans to speculate that the couple could be ripe for one of the show’s famous romances. However, Ellie insists their triumphant kisses are just a sign of their joyous friendship. “It was only a kiss on the cheek,” she blushes. “He gives me a kiss on the cheek every Saturday!” Protesting, she adds, “It was definitely on the cheek.”
For Vito, he insists that while they have fiery chemistry, he’s just a “very, very warm person”. “I just like to hug,” he says. “But no, we’re a good team.”
Cupid’s arrow may not have struck, but Ellie insists they’ll be friends for life. “We really, really get along and we have a lovely friendship,” she says. “I hope we can continue that.
“We’ve got a really good relationship where we kind of know what the other needs. Vito even lets me have power naps during training,” she continues. “If my brain’s not in the room he’ll be like, ‘Ellie, you need to take 15 minutes. Just close your eyes. Just have a little nap and then reset and we’ll go again.’ Sometimes your brain is filled with so much new information that you could be going over it for an hour and nothing’s going in.”
Vito was a finalist with Fleur East last year, and with Ellie’s high scores, it looks like she’s another potential winner. But Ellie won’t let herself think that far ahead.
“Strictly is an amazing show and to make it to the final would be incredible,” she says. “But I’m taking each week as it comes. If you think too far into the future, sometimes you don’t get the enjoyment out of every single minute. And that’s something we really want to do – just enjoy our time while we can because you just never know what’s going to happen.”
It was her former Corrie co-star Kym Marsh who told Ellie to enjoy every minute because time flies for the contestants “Kym just said to me, ‘Enjoy it while you can because it goes so quick,’” says Ellie. “Make sure you embrace every moment, which is what I’m doing.”
Ellie lives in Manchester and trains with Vito in London, but even when she’s at home with her family, she can’t stop running through her routines in her head.
“I don’t know how to switch off,” she confesses. “We finish training and I go home and get in bed. I put a bit of telly on and while I’m watching I can feel myself zoned out doing the steps in my head. I’m watching the telly but I’m not hearing the words because I’m playing the music in my head and I’m going over and over and over the steps.”
Her commitment is paying off on the dance floor and it’s that same ability to go into her head and block out the noise that helps her on Saturday nights. From the moment the music starts, it’s just two people moving together in perfect time.
“I just completely block everything out.” she says. “I just forget there’s an audience, I forget we’re on camera, I forget there’s judges there… It’s me and Vito and the music. We’re in the zone and we’re doing the dance. I am always nervous on a Saturday, always, but you just have to go out and enjoy it.”