The professional dancer spoke of his ‘care and love’ for his partner on the BBC One dance show
Vito Coppola has admitted to being ‘extremely protective’ of Ellie Goldstein as he spoke of his ‘care and love’ for his Strictly Come Dancing partner.
The pair have already been branded a ‘prefect partnership’ by fans of the BBC One dance contest after they were revealed as one of this year’s pairings during the Strictly 2025 launch show last month.
During the first live show of the series, the new partnership performed together for the first time and impressed with their sassy cha cha to Yes, And? by Ariana Grande, which scored them 17 out of a possible 40 points from the judges.
A they returned for the second week of the popular dance show on Saturday (October 4), model and actor Ellie, who is the first person with Down’s syndrome to compete on the main series of Strictly, and Vito upped their score.
They impressed the judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke – with their butterfly-themed waltz to Ellie Goulding’s version of Sir Elton John’s Your Song, earning 23 points.
Ellie and Vito were then seen making it safely through to week three of the competition, which just so happens to be the show’s Movie Week special.
The duo have been back in training ahead of their next live performance on Saturday but with days to go, Vito took to Instagram on Thursday with a message to fans about his protective nature of Ellie.
He shared a video in which he transformed into a tiger, before posting clips of Ellie doing her modelling, alongside a tiger which he said represented him.
Alongside the post, the Italian star wrote: POV: when people ask how protective I am with my little sister. The answer is: “more than you can even imagine!”
“I am extremely protective towards people I care and I love the most and Ellie is definitely part of it!!! My priority in life is always make people happy. This makes me happy, for me this is happiness! [it took me one hour to make this edit but I enjoyed creating it with AI] #alwaysfightforpeoplewholove.”
Ellie was quick to respond, with the 23-year-old writing in the comments section: “This is the cutest post I’ve ever seen.” Their Strictly co-stars were also commenting, with Karen Hauer replying: “Love love love,” while Michelle Tsiakkas echoed: “Love this.”
Fans also responded with their own messages. @allyans58 said: “This is why we love you and this post is brilliant.” @helenelliott273 commented: “Amazing person you are vito you should be extremely proud of yourself, keep being you and keep shining.”
@sue.deakin.18 wrote: “Oh @vitocoppola this is exactly why we love you so much! You really are the purest soul.” @ms_may3 replied: “Love this. You are an incredible human Vito.” @kathleenoneill622 added: “Everyone needs a big brother like Vito Ellie. You’re very lucky.”
