Strictly's Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola finally deny romance rumours

What did you miss?

Josie Gibson has asked the question on every Strictly Come Dancing fan's lips, as she finally pinned down Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola on whether they had found romance together. The former Coronation Street star said: "Honestly, we've just been having the most amazing time dancing. We've built a really strong bond and a friendship that will last forever."

The Strictly winners have been said to be a real-life couple outside of their dancefloor partnership, but had never given a definitive answer to whether or not the rumours were true. So when Gibson welcomed Leach and Coppola to the This Morning sofa on Monday, she made sure to press them for an answer.

What, how, and why?

Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola might have just won Strictly Come Dancing, but what fans really want to know is whether the end of their dancing journey is the start of a love story. The pair had been rumoured to be dating throughout the BBC One series but had never confirmed or denied it, so This Morning hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle made sure to get an answer on Monday.

Gibson started out by asking them: "We've just seen all those incredible dances, and when I say incredible, the chemistry between you two was absolutely insane."

However, it wasn't enough to get former Coronation Street star Leach and pro dancer Coppola to discuss their feelings, so she later came back to confront them again. She said: "Guys I've got to ask, because the chemistry between you is magic, we've seen you on that dancefloor and it was so beautiful, is there any romance between you guys? Were the rumours true, or not?"

They both laughed and Leach tried to shrug off the question, saying: "Honestly, we've just been having the most amazing time dancing. We've built a really strong bond and a friendship that will last forever."

Coppola added: "We had a beautiful bond. You see a person and you connect straight away - I'm very first impression person and when we met we had that feeling that we knew each other since we were young. You choose the people and I'm so, so lucky to have you in my life."

But Doyle refused to let them off the hook, saying: "It's 100% a romance." Leach and Coppola both laughed again as they said in unison: "No, no!"

Soap star Leach added: "We've been through so much together, we've spent every day together for the past three months, so we're really lucky to just have that bond that we've got, we'll be friends for life." However, it sounds as though Coppola has already been making efforts to impress Leach's family as he shared: "Her mother, Karen, makes the best gravy with the mashed potatoes."

What else happened on This Morning?

Leach and Coppola weren't the only reality stars on This Morning's sofa on Monday - host Gibson made her comeback after appearing in I'm A Celebrity, while her co-star and the show's winner Sam Thompson also joined them.

Thompson revealed that he had been a fan of I'm A Celebrity for as long as he could remember and said: "The beauty of the show is that no one can leave. So you have all these proper celebrities, and then me, and they're contractually obliged to stay there so you get to learn everything about them."

But Gibson reassured him: "You are a proper celebrity, Sam."

This Morning airs on ITV at 10am on weekdays.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing

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