Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have finally revealed their matching tattoos after the pair vowed to get inked together following their Strictly Come Dancing win.
The dancing duo were crowned the 2023 Strictly champs back in December after a nail-biting final with Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin and Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell. After they lifted the glitterball trophy, the pair promised to permanently mark their life-changing moment after the live tour.
Originally, they planned to get an aubergine and a bee logo with the word resilience on each of their arms. On Tuesday (January 30), the Coronation Street star, 22, and the Italian dancer, 31, decided to take the plunge and headed to Nicola Oprey Ink tattoo studio in the heart of Liverpool.
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The dance partners decided to document the moment on Instagram as they sat down in the chair together. Describing the tattoo design, Vito told his loyal legion of fans on his Instagram Story: “It is going to be a bee with an aubergine body.”
(Image: vitocoppola/Instagram)
The hunk later updated fans with the finished artwork on his upper arm as he shared a close up of the fine line bee drawing with the word RESILIENCE printed underneath. As he and Ellie showed off their arms, he gushed: “Guys, we’re just done!
“We are so, so happy. The best is Nicola Oprey. There she is, look at her. She’s just the best. It’s beautiful.” The pair called themselves the aubergine team throughout the BBC dance competition because Vito loves parmigiana, but decided to add a bee to the design because of its resilience.
Earlier this month, the duo appeared on This Morning to discuss their “great relationship” where they talked about their tattoo plans. When guest host Craig Doyle cheekily asked: “Are they a couple?” Vito replied: “We have a great relationship and we are going to have a tattoo – as a joke – before we got to the final we promised ourselves we would get one of an Aubergine.”
(Image: vitocoppola/Instagram)
Ellie added: “We said if we made it to the final we would get a tattoo, but it was just a joke, we didn’t expect to get there!” Vito continued: “At the end, we decided to do a B with the body of an Aubergine because a B is the Brazilian insect. But that is a symbol of our bond.”
The former soap star, who left her long running role as Faye Windass on the ITV cobbles before she signed up to the ballroom show, added that dancing has now become a “huge part” of her life. She said: “Dancing helps me in a lot of ways and it has become a huge part of my life.
“It’s something that I really, really fell in love with, and it we can kind of help people feel the same way then that is amazing. I don’t think it will ever sink in, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
(Image: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/REX/Shutterstock)
“I still cannot believe that we won. I have watched that video over and over and over again and I still cannot believe it.
“It was such an emotional time and it kind of feels like a dream. It kind of feels like it didn’t happen but it was the best dream ever.” Throughout their time on the show, the dancers were surrounded by romance rumours.
Speaking to The Mirror, the Italian hunk clarified that the pair are just good friends. He told the publication: “We have a great relationship and honestly when you just find people, not just me and Ellie but their family which I love.
“You just find these people that you think you are going to stay in my life forever, in each other’s lives forever, and all the family and the dogs. We are going nowhere, don’t worry I am going to annoy you every single day, every week and every single year.”
(Image: Instagram/ @ellielouiseleach)
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Meanwhile, Ellie is currently fuelling romance rumours with EastEnders star Bobby Brazier after the pair have reportedly been enjoying a series of secret dates together. A source previously told The Sun how they have kissed and been on intimate dates during breaks between performances on the nationwide tour.
The insider told the outlet: “Bobby and Ellie are the talk of the tour. Their friendship has grown and grown, and they’ve been spending nearly all their free time together before and after performances.
“They’ve been having their meals together and flirting openly. The chat on tour is they may have enjoyed a cheeky snog and will go public with their romance any week now.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
