After months of speculation, Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have finally addressed reports that they are dating. Speaking at the Strictly Come Dancing press conference, the pairing opened up about focusing on rehearsals amid speculation over their romance.
When asked if the dating reports bother them, Vito explained: "We are in the rehearsals all day, we have so many things to think about, choreography… we have to have the time to eat, we nap a little bit, then we go home and we eat and sleep because we rehearse again so we really are so focused.
"All of this beautiful experience, words cannot describe how we are enjoying every single rehearsal, every single second of this amazing experience."
Ellie also spoke about their chemistry, saying: "I think that we’ve danced together for - how many weeks now? We’re together every single day and you really have to have a strong partnership to trust in each other. Vito is an amazing dancer that’s why he’s a professional, so I have to trust in him but he has to trust in me because it’s something I’ve never done before."
© BBCVito added: "I trusted her from day one. Because she didn’t trust in herself, I said, first I have to have your trust, now, once you trust me, trust me as I trust you! You will trust yourself! It worked, because at the beginning, she said, 'I can’t do it,' but I said you will be surprised how good you are, how good you can be… The most beautiful thing was to see the development… We just had a very great connection and a 50/50 partnership."
© Guy LevyVito shared a post sharing his joy after the pair landed a place in the finale, writing: "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU… 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. If we are here today and if we will dance next week the Final is because of you.
"Every single of you Who believed in us and supported us, every single vote of yours is making this journey the most amazing and incredible ever! We promise to you all that we will give as always our best, and we will give triple of 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."
© InstagramSpeaking about Ellie, he continued: "Lulú what can I say…I am so happy to have the possibility to dance with you for another week and have the pleasure to lead you on the dance floor. I am so proud of you. 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. Thank you beautiful people. Thank you very much."
