Ellie Leach and her partner Vito Coppola have shared the reason why they’ve put their rumoured romance on hold ahead of the final.
The Coronation Street star, 22, is the bookies’ favourite to lift the Glitterball in Saturday night’s final with her odds at 1/10.
She will be battling it all out alongside her dancing partner Vito, 31, against Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier, to win the Glitterball trophy.
Ellie said: ‘Honestly, I feel so so lucky to be in the final, everyone in this competition has been so amazing.’
‘I’m doing it for the girls! The last woman standing! I just loved everything about this experience. I just feel really, really grateful to be here.’
Ellie Leach and her partner Vito Coppola have shared the reason why they’ve put their rumoured romance on hold ahead of the final
The Coronation Street star, 22, is the bookies’ favourite to lift the Glitterball in Saturday night’s final with her odds at 1/10, and will be battling it all out alongside her dancing partner Vito, 31, against Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier
Ellie and Vito are set to perform a dance rto a Jennifer Lopez megamix – which the Italian hunk described as ‘a bit like minestrone’, because it combines many different dance styles.
She explained: ‘I was so nervous at the start. I was like, ‘look, I’m really sorry. There’s gonna be things that I don’t know if I can do’, and I was really, really scared.’
‘I’ve never had any dance experience. I actually cannot believe that we are in the final, and also how quick the time has gone.
‘It feels like Christmas Eve every night, like you’re excited to wake up Christmas Day,’ Ellie added as she couldn’t contain her excitement.
Vito spoke about the rumoured romance with the Corrie star as he said: ‘We have so many things to think about, you know, and choreography, and lift up and down, left, right, diagonal.
‘And after we finish, we have the time to eat fast. We nap a little bit because we need to take the energy to continue.’
‘After we go home, we make sure we go to sleep the next day we have to go again.’
The choreographer made clear that despite their strong bond, the pair will be channelling their focus into gruelling training to attempt winning the Glitterball trophy.
‘I’m doing it for the girls! The last woman standing! I just loved everything about this experience. I just feel really, really grateful to be here,’ said Ellie excited ahead of the series final
‘We have so many things to think about, you know, and choreography, and lift up and down, left, right, diagonal. And after we finish, we have the time to eat fast. We nap a little bit because we need to take the energy to continue ‘After we go home, we make sure we go to sleep the next day we have to go again,’ said Vito candidly
The soap actress admitted she was void of self-belief ahead of the series after her string of setbacks and was incredibly ‘nervous’ about dancing in front of millions of viewers
Ellie said that Vito believed in her from the beginning of their partnership, so she learned to trust in herself and ability as a dancer
‘So we really are so focused on all this beautiful experience. We just had a very great connection, a 50/50 partnership since the beginning,’ added Vito.
Ellie added: ‘I think that, obviously, we’ve danced together for how many weeks now? It’s been three months we’ve been together every single day.
‘And you really have to have a strong partnership to be able to trust in each other.’
Ellie admitted she was void of self-belief ahead of the series after her string of setbacks and was incredibly ‘nervous’ about dancing in front of millions of viewers.
But Vito has revitalised her and Ellie says she’s now discovered an inner dance diva she never knew existed.
Ellie said: ‘At the beginning of the competition, I really didn’t have much self-confidence or self-belief and that’s something that I have always really struggled with.
‘Strictly has really helped me to build on that and grow because obviously we go live on a Saturday night, which is something I’m really not used to and dance in front of millions of people and do something that is completely out of your comfort zone so for me that has really helped in building my self-confidence.
‘After week one, I thought, this is the strangest experience ever and I can’t believe I have just danced live on TV in front of millions of people but then as the weeks went on, I thought, I am starting to learn a new skill and a lot more about myself and Vito believed in me from the start so I thought, if Vito believes in me and trusts that I can do this dance then maybe I should have more belief in myself.’
Ellie played Faye Windass in Coronation Street for 12 years, a role she landed when she was nine, before she was cruelly axed last May.
Remaining coy over the dating speculation, Ellie did however laud the pair’s chemistry, saying: ‘You really need to have a strong partnership to be able to trust in each other’
The following month, she split from model boyfriend Reagan Pettman, who she had been dating for five years, after it emerged that he had been cheating on her.
But the actress has managed to overcome her heartache by starring on Strictly, winning over the hearts of the nation in the process.
She’s also made an impact on Vito, as the pair have been dogged by romance rumours since the early weeks of the series.
Remaining coy over the dating speculation, Ellie did however laud the pair’s chemistry.
She said: ‘Obviously we have danced together for three months, and we have been together every single day. You really need to have a strong partnership to be able to trust in each other.
‘For me as well Vito is an amazing dancer, which is why he’s a professional and I have to trust him here and it is a lot about him putting trust in me because it is something I have never done before.
‘For him to make the choreography so difficult, there has to be a lot of trust there.’
Vito, who split from his ex-girlfriend and former celebrity partner on the Italian version of Strictly, pop star Arisa, in 2021, says there are ‘no words to describe’ how much he enjoys being in her company.
He added: ‘I have trusted her since day one and I have believed in her potential. We have had a very great connection, a 50 per cent partnership since the beginning.
‘We are so into rehearsals all day… we have so many things to think about… choreography, lifts up and down, left right, and then when we finish we have the time to eat, and nap a little bit to have the energy to continue the rehearsal and then after we go home, we make sure that we eat and sleep because the next day we have to be back again so we really are so focus on the beautiful experience.
‘Words cannot describe how much we are enjoying every single day, every single rehearsal and second of this amazing experience.’
Ellie is the last woman standing in the BBC competition after Annabel Croft narrowly missed out on a place in the grand final
Vito says there are ‘no words to describe’ how much he enjoys being in Ellie’s company as they approach the Strictly final on Saturday night
Ellie is the last woman standing in the BBC competition after Annabel Croft, 57, narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
She will compete against Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier to be crowned winner, saying she is ‘doing it for the girls.’
‘I feel so lucky to be in the final and especially with Bobby and Layton as well,’ Ellie said.
‘Everyone in this competition was so amazing and we have all got along so well and we genuinely have been rooting for each other.
But in Vito’s eyes, Ellie, who he calls his My Lulú, is already a winner, as he continued to praise her work ethic and dance ability.
He added: ‘She has been my winner since day one, the way she moves, and she has worked so hard since day one.
‘You have been a winner every single week, my winner, our winner, for me… our couple, your friends and family are so proud.’
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final is on Saturday 16th December at 7pm, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer