Strictly Come Dancing professional Vito Coppola sent his social media followers into a spin this weekend, posting a fiery shirtless dance video just days before the BBC show's grand finale.
Instagram Post Sparks Fan Frenzy
The 33-year-old dancer shared the sizzling clip on his Instagram account on Sunday, showing off his moves to the hit track Mi Gente by J Balvin and Willy William. He captioned the post, "Getting ready for @dancewithusclasses Live Experience 2026!! Are you ready? dance with us, dance with love."
Fans quickly flooded the comments with praise and admiration. The video even caught the eye of Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas, who humorously commented, "Why is this video 2 hours long."
Emotional Exit with Ellie Goldstein
The viral moment follows Vito's elimination from the competition during Halloween Week with his celebrity partner, Ellie Goldstein. The 23-year-old model, who is the first contestant with Down's syndrome to appear on Strictly, was voted off after a dance-off against EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon.
The judges' decision was unanimous, with Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, and Motsi Mabuse all choosing to save Balvinder. Shirley Ballas confirmed she would have made the same choice, though she praised Ellie for being "outstanding throughout the whole competition."
Heartfelt Tributes and Charitable Praise
Vito moved viewers to tears during their exit interview, delivering a heartfelt speech to Ellie. "Honestly, there are no words I can use to describe how proud I am of you," he said. "At the beginning of this year, I said to myself please, please, please can you send me a beautiful angel into my life? And now you arrived... I've never had a little sister but I always wanted one. Now, I have you and you're my little sister forever."
Ellie's groundbreaking participation won significant acclaim from the learning disability charity Mencap. Jon Sparkes OBE, Chief Executive of Mencap, stated: "We are so proud of our Mencap Myth Buster Ellie for her incredible journey on Strictly... Ellie has done a fantastic job of showing the nation what people with a learning disability can achieve when they're given the spotlight to shine."
The pair were eliminated after performing their Tango to Abracadabra by Lady Gaga in the fateful dance-off. Their departure marks the end of a historic and warmly celebrated partnership on this year's series.
