11 December 2023 , 21:27
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BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have shared a heartfelt joint announcement, thanking their fans for the overwhelming support.
The pair, who have been impressing viewers with their electrifying performances, are favourites to win this year's Glitterball trophy. Vito expressed his gratitude to his 261,000 Instagram followers, saying: "We don't have words to describe our happiness and the words "thank you" are not enough to describe our gratitude to all of you beautiful people."
He continued: "We promise to you all that we will give as always our best, and we will give triple the energy, effort, commitment and everything we can do to express our gratitude. We are super grateful from our hearts. While writing this post the tears are in the eyes."
Vito expressed his gratitude to his Instagram followers (BBC/Guy Levy)
The duo are the favourite to win the series (BBC/Guy Levy)Vito also paid a touching tribute to his dance partner, former Coronation Street star Ellie, saying: "You are my warrior! You are really blossoming and now you can show to the entire world how amazing you are, but mostly you will prove to yourself that you are an amazing butterfly "So for this week just spread your wings and let's fly I promise to give you my best of the best for this next week, because I want it to be forever memorable in our memories."
Ellie was full of praise for her partner as she responded: "Couldn't do this without you partner, let's enjoy our final week dancing together." Corrie's Sally Dynevor and Fleur East were among the celebs who shared messages of support. Sally said: "Ellie you're incredible. Well done. Omg." Fleur added: "Woooo!!! Let's goooo!" Eddie Kadi commented: "Come on."
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The duo sailed into the semi-finals after scoring 36 with their quickstep on Musicals Week. On Saturday night, Ellie and Vito returned to the dancefloor once more where they performed two dances for a spot in the final. They did the Cha-Cha and a Couples' Choice dance to secure a place in next week's show.
Following their performance, Vito praised Ellie as they awaited their results. He told host Claudia Winkleman: "Honestly, I am so proud of this girl. I met a very shy, a super shy girl and look at her now. She is super strong, independent woman. Before she was like 'I cannot do that', the first week was like 'I am not able to do that', 'I am not good enough', 'I am not coordinated', everything was a no. Now, everything has become a yes."
He then kissed Ellie on the cheek and whispered "I am so proud of you."
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