Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach has reflected on her impressive journey to the Glitterball Trophy, giving huge credit to her professional partner Vito Coppola.
The dance duo battled all the way to the final of 2023's Strictly season and were crowned champions in the grand finale.
Looking back on her experience in the BBC dance competition, Leach confessed Coppola pushed her to enhance both her dancing and personal life.
Chatting about how she progressed throughout the competition, Leach revealed Coppola helped her build confidence and make lifestyle changes.
"I would never have had this personal journey without Vito saying to me: 'I believe in you, so just trust yourself, trust me'," she told Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.
"Yeah, constantly," Coppola chimed in, revealing his encouragement continued even after Leach had returned home for the day. "I was saying to her: 'Okay, do some meditation for just ten minutes. Just do it. Do the stretching, do this exercise, go to sleep early, eat healthy, and see you tomorrow'."
"It was literally constant 24/7," Leach laughed. "Like: 'Do this, do that, and make sure you look after yourself. Do this meditation and make sure you're doing yoga'. Like this is so much to do!"
When asked if she successfully completed every task Coppola advised her to do, Leach enthused: "Oh, of course."
This comes after the pair recently shared some exciting news with the viewers of ITV's This Morning. As Leach and Coppola appeared on Wednesday's (January 10) show, presenter Josie Gibson announced they'd be joining the "This Morning family".
Further detailing their new role on the show, Leach explained: "We are going to basically give three couples some dancing lessons".
Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Tickets for Strictly's 2024 live arena tour are available now.
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