The proud mum of Strictly’s Ellie Leach has credited her daughter’s partner Vito Coppola for helping her ‘blossom into a woman’.
The Coronation Street star, 22, is at the centre of romance rumours with Italian dancer Vito, 31.
And her mother Karen has nothing but praise for him.
Are Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola together?
Speaking to The Sun On Sunday, Karen said: “She seems to have blossomed into a beautiful, young, confident woman — although she will always be our little girl.
She added: “Even though Vito is teaching her to dance, he has also been helping her focus on her self-confidence and inner strengths, which is something she has always suffered with growing up.
“They have formed such a wonderful friendship and have a great connection on the dance floor.”
On Saturday night, Ellie and Vito performed a Charleston to Girls Aloud’s Love Machine.
The show was held at Blackpool’s iconic Tower Ballroom and the couple scooped a near-perfect 39.
Read more: Strictly spoiler leaks again and fans aren’t happy
Throughout the series, speculation that Ellie and Vito have fallen for each other has grown.
Before taking to the dance floor on Saturday, Vito left fans swooning as he promised to make the soap star’s Blackpool experience “the best”.
In a heartwarming Instagram post, he wrote: “I am so proud of you and grateful and happy for the amazing journey we are having together.
“I promise to give you the best Blackpool memories and I know that you will do the same my Lulú.
“Cannot wait to perform on that dance floor tomorrow. And for all of you beautiful people who support us we hope you will enjoy our dance.”
Ellie, who plays Faye Windass in Corrie, replied: “Let’s Charleston,” adding six red love heart emojis.
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‘Full of passion’
Ellie and Vito topped the Strictly leaderboard jointly with Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin in Blackpool.
Both couples received 10s from Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.
Hard-to-please Craig Revel Horwood gave them nines.
Meanwhile, a body language expert has described Ellie and Vito as being “full of passion” for each other.
Read more: Strictly: Judges’ criticism of Nigel and Katya leaves fans furious
Darren Stanton said: “Ellie is happy for Vito to take the lead in their partnership, as she suggests she’s comfortable around him.
“She acknowledges Vito knows what he’s doing and has a lot of trust in him – which is shown through her gentle but strong eye contact and confidence to be tactile
“They come across as very authentic and full of passion for one another.”
- Strictly Come Dancing: The Results, 7.20pm, BBC1, Sunday November 19
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