Strictly’s Vito Coppola shares sweet Ellie Leach update ahead of new venture

Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola has shared an update on his friendship with 2023 dance partner Ellie Leach. The pro dancer and former Coronation Street star lifted the Glitterball on the BBC show last year.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine on Friday, April 19, Vito and fellow dancer Dianne Buswell – who he appearing with on the Strictly: Professionals tour – chatted to Christine Lampard. Along with talking about the tour the pair also discussed whether they still kept in touch with their previous partners.

“You still have such wonderful relationships with your previous celebs?” Christine asked and Vito revealed that he was still in touch with both Ellie and singer Fleur East, who recently gave birth to her first child. You can read more about the Strictly: Professionals tour here.

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Vito said he was “constantly” in touch with Ellie, and Dianne also shared how she still kept in regular contact with her 2023 partner, EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier – who himself was rumoured to be in a relationship with Ellie Leach. "Sometimes I'm in a video call with Ellie at the same time Dianne is in a video call with Bobby,” Vito said.

He added: “I'm literally like, sometimes we call them because we started early, so we call them at 7.30 or 8 in the morning. They want to sleep but no, if we wake up, [they] wake up with us. I'm going to be very annoying now." Want less ads? Download WalesOnline’s Premium app on Apple or Android

Vito also revealed that he had seen Fleur since the birth of her baby. “I said to [Fleur]: ‘Please, can I hold?’ The entire time I was there, I had the baby on me. She fell asleep on me. I said: ‘Meet your Uncle Vito.’ Meet your crazy Uncle Vito!”

Last month Ellie gave fans a glimpse at her morning calls with Vito, sharing a snap on her Instagram Stories. She wrote at the time: "Morning wake up call (red heart emoji) today's one liner from Mr Coppola himself - "the sweat is savoury"." She added: "@vitocoppola love you" alongside a pink love heart emoji.

Vito himself also shared the screengrab on his own Instagram stories as he wrote: "Ahahahahah look at my hair when I just wake up." He added: "Love you baby." You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.