Strictly winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola are getting matching tattoos

Watch: Strictly winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola plan to get matching tattoos

What did you miss?

Strictly Come Dancing champions Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have revealed the are getting matching tattoos as a symbol of their "great relationship". The pair appeared on the This Morning sofa where they once again shrugged off questions from hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle about whether they are romantically involved.

But the dance couple revealed that they have promised each other they will get matching bee tattoos as a symbol of their close bond. The pair revealed they had originally planned to have aubergine tattoos, but explained they had now decided on a bee.

What, how, and why?

Former Coronation Street star Leach, 22, and Italian dancer Coppola, 31, were put on the spot once again by Doyle when he asked: "People are still speculating about the romance. That there is one. Is there?"

Coppola replied: "We have a great, great relationship, and we made a promise. We are going to have..." Leach interrupted: "We had a little joke, we said if we make it to the final, why dont we get a tattoo? But it was just a joke. We didn't expect to get there. It was a tattoo of an aubergine, because we are the aubergine team."

Dancer Coppola explained that when they realised they would have to go through with their tattoo promise, they had changed their plan from an aubergine to a bee. He said: "In the end we decided we would do a bee with the body of the aubergine, something in between. Because the bee is a Brazilian insect and it's also the symbol of Manchester [where Leach is from]. So it makes sense."

Leach added: "That is a symbol of our bond and our friendship."

Gibson looked confused as she asked why they had wanted to have a tattoo of an aubergine, a vegetable which now has sexual connotations after its emoji became shorthand for sex on social media.

Leach said: "It's a long story but Vito loves [Italian dish] parmigiana and I had never tried it." Coppola added: "The fact she didn't know the aubergine is the main ingredient of parmigiana for me is a drama, so we spent one day just speaking about this and then we became the aubergine team."

Coppola also revealed that he had trimmed his signature chest hair at Leach's request. The macho dancer, famous for wearing his shirts unbuttoned low, said: "Today it's a bit trim, because Ellie yesterday says to me 'Vito it's too long'. But I did the wrong length this morning." Leach admitted: "I did say to him you could do with a bit of shave."

What else did Ellie and Vito reveal on This Morning?

The Strictly 2023 winners are joining the ITV daytime show to offer dance classes to This Morning viewers. Couples can now enter and three will be chosen to win dance lessons with Leach and Coppola. Leach said: "We are so excited. I'm going to apparently turning into a teacher but we are going to give three couples some dancing lessons. I found dancing really helped me in a lot of ways, and it's become a huge part of my life and something I really fell in love with. If we can help people feel the same way, it's amazing."

This Morning airs on ITV at 10am on weekdays.

Read more: Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola

• Strictly’s Ellie Leach ‘gutted after accidently breaking replica Glitterball Trophy’ (Independent, 3 min read)

• Strictly's Ellie and Vito share cosy reunion video (Good Housekeeping, 2 min read)

• Strictly's Vito Coppola Calls Ellie Leach A 'Perfect Diamond' (Evening Standard)