BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Vito Coppola says 'sorry' as he sends his 'love' to Ellie Leach

Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola apologised to his fans and followers as he was heard sending his 'love' to Ellie Leach. The dancer shared a video on social media for the first time since he and the actress went their separate ways earlier this year.

The pair quickly became favourites last year when they were paired for the 2023 series of the BBC One dance contest and their partnership went from strength to strength in the competition before they emerged victorious and lifted the coveted Glitterball trophy during the Strictly final in December - making Ellie the competition's youngest-ever winner at 22.

After going their separate ways for Christmas and New Year, the Italian dancer and former Coronation Street Ellie were eventually reunited earlier this year for the Strictly Come Dancing Live 2024 tour where they performed for audiences up and down the country with a number of their fellow 2023 series couples.

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The tour, however, came to an emotional end for the pair back in February and Vito, 31, and Ellie haven't been seen together since with the latter heading into her next big gig as she made her stage debut in Cleudo 2 - The Next Chapter as Miss Scarlett.

But on Friday (March 15) it was Ellie's birthday and Vito broke his social media silence to send his friend and former dance partner a public message. Speaking to his 315,000 followers, he started by saying: "Good morning beautiful people and I'm sorry I've not really been on social media lately.

"But today is a very special day and I want to wish happy, happy birthday to someone special which