Ellie Leach has broken down in tears as she paid tribute to her Strictly Come Dancing co-star Vito Coppola.
Ellie and Vito won the hit BBC dancing competition last weekend, beating out EastEnders star Bobby Brazier and Bad Education star Layton Williams to take the glitterball trophy. Ellie herself has now become the youngest celebrity to win the show, at the age of just 22.
And now the former Coronation Street actress has reflected on her journey in the show, as she became emotional looking back on her time taking part. She started to well up when speaking about her Italian stallion partner Vito, who has been a member of the professional team since 2022.
READ MORE: Strictly Come Dancing fans ‘convinced’ major star is set to quit after spotting ‘clue’
READ MORE: Join the Daily Star Soaps WhatsApp for all the latest spoilers and exclusives
Speaking about her professional co-star, Ellie choked her way through her tribute. She sobbed: “He has changed my life.
(Image: BBC)
Continuing on with her gushing for Vito, she said: “I don’t think that words can really describe how much he means to me.” After uttering the words, Ellie shed a tear as she reflected on the time they had spent together on the show.
Sharing the video uploaded by the BBC to her own Instagram page, Ellie herself commented on her love for Vito. Not one to be overly emotional, however, she quipped as she mentioned Vito in her story: “Don’t say I don’t compliment you,” followed by an eye-roll emoji.
(Image: BBC)
Vito has already felt success as a professional on the show, having won the Italian version of the show in 2021. After moving to the UK, he was then paired with radio presenter and singer Fleur East, who finished in joint second place, missing out at the last moment to wildlife photographer Hamza Yassin.
And fans of the show have been awash with theories that Leach and Coppola had been dating during their time in the competition. Ellie had brought Vito home to Manchester, leading followers to believe the pair had bonded off the dancefloor.
In a post uploaded to Instagram where Ellie and Vito thanked the public for taking them through the compeititon, many fans swarmed the comments section to call on the pair to “go public”. One fan wrote: “Congratulations, now please start dating each other!”
(Image: BBC)
A second fan gushed over the pair: “Loved every one of your dances every single week and loved your partnership, amazing!” Whilst a third paid tribute to the twosome: “The absolute best. Love you both. You won over all of our hearts, best partnership ever.”
For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
