Strictly winner Ellie Leach's cute four word message for 'boyfriend' Vito
Ellie Leach had a simple message for her rumoured boyfriend Vito Coppola as they overcame a mishap to win Strictly Come Dancing.
The 22-year-old Coronation Street star and the 31-year-old Italian dance professional wowed the voting public and scooped the Glitterball Trophy after 13 weeks of relentless dance training and performing. The duo took to the ballroom floor for the final time on Saturday night where they worked their way through a trio of routines.
But at one point, it looked like victory had been snatched from them when a daring lift ended in near disaster. While performing their show dance during the final, Vito flipped Ellie up onto his shoulders as part of a daring lift.
But while she was standing on his shoulders, Ellie faltered and fell - with Vito catching her milliseconds before she could smash her face on the floor. The horrifying near-accident rattled Ellie’s confidence, and saw them gain their lowest scores of the night - but the viewing public overlooked the slip up to crown them the 2023 champions.
Ellie Leach congratulated Vito Coppola over their Strictly win (BBC)When show hosts Tess Daly, 54, and Claudia Winkelman, 51, announced that Ellie and Vito had in fact won the show, Ellie was struck dumb with shock. While Vito was overwhelmed by his emotions and promptly burst into tears while sparklers and pyrotechnics erupted behind them.
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When Ellie was finally able to find her voice, she dedicated the win to her dance partner, saying: “This is for you!” The simple four word message proved to be a touching tribute for Vito who looked delighted to receive the compliment from his rumoured girlfriend.
Throughout the 2023 contest, viewers have been transfixed by the growing friendship between Ellie and Vito - with many speculating that the pair had become more than just friends. Both stars were single at the start of the contest as Ellie broke up with her boyfriend Reagan Pettman earlier in the year - amid allegations he had cheated on her.
Meanwhile, Vito was said to be single after he had previously been linked to Helen Skelton who was a Strictly contestant during the 2022 show. The rumours that Ellie and Vito were secretly dating were fuelled by the couple themselves as they would kiss on stage and then laugh about it during interviews.
In an early interview, Ellie declared: “It was only a kiss on the cheek. He gives me a kiss on the cheek every Saturday! We really, really get along and we have a lovely friendship. I hope we can continue that. We’ve got a really good relationship where we kind of know what the other needs.”
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While ahead of the final, they refused to confirm or deny if they were romancing, saying they only had eyes for the Glitterball Trophy. Asked at a press conference if dating rumours bothered them, Vito said: "We are in the rehearsals all day, we have so many things to think about, choreography… we have to have the time to eat, we nap a little bit, then we go home and we eat and sleep because we rehearse again so we really are so focused.
“All of this beautiful experience, words cannot describe how we are enjoying every single rehearsal, every single second of this amazing experience." While Ellie added: "I think that we’ve danced together for - how many weeks now? We’re together every single day and you really have to have a strong partnership to trust in each other. Vito is an amazing dancer that’s why he’s a professional, so I have to trust in him but he has to trust in me because it’s something I’ve never done before."
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