Vito Coppola and Ellie Goldstein reflect on their time on Strictly Come Dancing following their elimination

This article contains spoilers for the latest Strictly Come Dancing elimination.

There wasn’t a dry eye in any house tuned into Strictly Come Dancing over the weekend, as Ellie Goldstein and Vito Coppola were sent home from the competition.

During Sunday night’s launch show, the model, actor and disability advocate wound up in the dance-off for the first time, alongside soap star Balvinder Sopal.

After both stars danced for the second time, the judges unanimously opted to save the EastEnders cast member, but they were still clearly upset at seeing Ellie leave the competition.

Meanwhile, Vito was full of praise for his celebrity dance partner, telling her: “There are no words I can use to describe how proud I am of you and you did really change my life so much. You made me such a better person.

“At the beginning of this year, I said, ‘please, please can you send me a beautiful angel into my life?’. And [then] you arrived.”

He added: “I’ve never had a little sister but I always wanted one. Now, I have you and you’re my little sister forever, and your big brother is always by your side.”

Ellie was similarly effusive about Vito, telling the Italian pro: “He is a kind person and all I wanted from day one. You have been so heartwarming, thank you.”

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Posting on Instagram, the pair’s co-stars were clearly sad to see them go, too.

Nikita Kuzmin wrote: “So so proud of you [Ellie]. What a beautiful journey you’ve had, you’ve done it all with your heart and genuine self. And my brother [Vito], you’ve just been unbelievable this whole season, and what a partner, brother and friend you’ve been to Ellie! Love you both.”

Dianne Buswell described the pair as “my absolute favourites”, telling them: “You both made me feel........

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