Strictly's Ellie on trusting Vito and says she's 'just living in the moment'
Will they, won’t they? Are they, aren’t they?
As we interrupt Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola’s preparations for Saturday's Strictly semi-finals, the questions whirl around them. Will they make it to the final? Are they ready to lift that glitterball? Can they really, truly go all the way?
Oh, And the other stuff. Their mutual admiration and close bond fuelled rumours of a romance on one hand, but mean-spirited mumblings about a ‘showmance’ on the other. In this, they can’t win. Vito, 31, is incredulous. Who’s got the time?
“We are so, so focused on practising every day,” he says. “The only thing we do - we practise… we go home and it’s like ‘OK let’s eat good food… protein and vegetables’. Then just have a good sleep and…”
It all starts again.
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Ellie has told magical stories on the dance floor, including a fierce paso doble, and a sultry Argentine tango (PA)With two dances to perform for the semis, the stress is immense. “It’s strange having to learn two dances in the same time as one,” says Ellie, 22. “It’s extra pressure but I’m actually really excited.”
Some of her admirers aren’t so sure. The fan-favourites’ second dance will be their Couple’s Choice. But their first will be a cha cha cha, known by superfans as a ‘poison cha-cha-chalice!’, because of its history of returning low marks this far along in the competition.
Ellie is not superstitious. “We have been having so much fun in the training room!,” she says. “And my Couple’s Choice… it will be really great to let everyone see a little bit more about me.” We know ‘chaw chaw chaw’ is Craig’s favourite dance to enunciate, but will it get him raising that elusive 10-paddle? He has yet to bestow double figures on them.
“Craig hasn’t given us a 10 yet but we are putting in so much hard work, week in, week out and that is the main thing,” says Ellie.
Vito is definitely keeping score. “We have our book about the judges’ feedback,” he says. “We write down all the comments from Saturday night. [But] I am not focused on the 10 paddle at all. As long as we are able to bring joy to people who enjoy watching us, we are more than happy.”
Ellie and Vito will be performing two dances in one night for the first time on Saturday (DAILY MIRROR)All four couples got a bye through to the semis after Nigel Harman crashed out with a broken rib before last weekend’s show. They were “really upset” for Nigel, but also for his pro partner Katya Jones. “Katya is always the one who always brings the joy and happiness to us,” says Vito. “The one who picks us all up. Katya said something to me that was very beautiful. She said ‘Guys, I really want the best for you because when you do great, I do great, we all go together and whoever goes into the final, I go with you every step’. Katya is just as beautiful as you see on Saturday night.”
Ellie, meanwhile, is nipping herself. “I really cannot believe that we are in the semi-finals! This time has gone so so fast.”
She is that special thing, a proper Strictly journey. After 12 years on Corrie in the role of Faye Butler, she left the soap in July this year and signed up to Strictly as a true non-dancer. Bad Education and West End star Layton Williams meanwhile has come under fire for having previous dance experience, albeit not in Ballroom and Latin. Isn’t it a little unfair?
Ellie is having none of it. “It’s true I’ve never really danced before,” she says. “I think that’s what shocked me a little bit at first. But every single week I just think, ‘I’m going to try and be my best, try and be better than last week’. So really the competition for me is with myself.”
“People say ‘competition, competition’,” says Vito, “like it’s a swear word and not the whole point of the show. But really, backstage, all of us are there for each other. Me, Nikita, Layton, everyone we are a big hug group, a family!”
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The iconic Strictly Glitterball trophy (BBC/Guy Levy)For a non-dancer, Ellie has told magical stories on the dance floor. A fierce paso doble, a sultry Argentine tango…
“Vito is such a great teacher and has taught me so much over the course of the competition,” she says. The admiration is mutual. “Ellie applies the Double L - listen and learn,” says Vito. “She’s ambitious but she’s very humble inside, never has any kind of expectation. She wants me to have the best from her, and to make me proud.” Ellie laughs. “I trust him so much - he’s been doing this for his whole life.”
Is that gleam in her eye a glitterball for Christmas? What a bauble that would be! The natural humility in her won’t let her go there. “Very much we live in the moment,” she says. “We don’t really allow ourselves to think into the future. IF we’ll be in the final, IF we’ll win... We take every day and every minute as it comes.
“When you think too much into the future you forget to live in the present and those little moments that you might miss out on. We don’t want to miss out on anything.”
Ellie said she's going to miss dancing with Vito every day after Strictly (Instagram)And life beyond Strictly? “I’m going to miss dancing with Vito every day,” she says. “Coming into Strictly I knew there was going to be hard work but I didn’t how hard the work would be. I knew it was going to be fun but not how much fun I was going to have. Honestly I am going to miss every single thing. It’s such an incredible place.”
Alas there will be no Vito Coppola feet beneath the Leach family table this Christmas. He’ll be off to Italy to see his own folks. “Three dishes of pasta and four of meat!,” he laughs. What will the new year bring for Ellie? Could a return to Corrie be on the cards? Her character might have come a cropper on the cobbles, but in Soapland that’s not always a problem.
Ellie’s not thinking that far ahead. “Hopefully some opportunities will come around,” she says. “But for now I’m so lucky. I have been supported by so many people, my family, friends and people voting. I feel that over the course of my journey I’ve made them proud.”
Just think how proud they’ll all be if she hoists that ball.
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