Life has changed a lot for Ellie Leach in the past few months. The actress said goodbye to the famous Coronation Street cobbles in May after playing Faye Windass on the soap for 12 years, and at the same time she went through a breakup.
So it’s no wonder that as the Bury-born 22-year-old embraces all the glitter, glitz and glamor of Strictly Come Dancing, she sees it as a welcome opportunity to grow as her own person.
“It was really nice to throw myself into something new. This is all about me now,” says Ellie, who made her debut on Strictly dancefloor with pro partner Vito Coppola over the weekend, after getting the jive for the first dance, as she joins HELLO! for this exclusive photo shoot.
“I just want to give 100 percent of myself Strictly. I’m really excited to enjoy it and hopefully get a little extra confidence.”
Ellie is known for her role as Faye in Coronation Street
Ellie and her dance partner Vito Coppola
Ellie is “buzzing” to be on top of her Strictly trip with Vita – and there’s only one person who was more excited than Ellie to be partnered with the Italian pro when the Strictly pairings were revealed.
“My mum is obsessed with him and she’s like, ‘I hope you get Vito, I hope you get Vito,’ so the fact that he’s my partner is amazing,” Ellie laughs about her dance teacher.
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Everything you need to know about new Strictly pro Vito Coppola
In the midst of rumors about a relationship with Molly Rainford, a love affair with actress Vita Coppola was revealedEllie in Coronation Street
After spending almost half her life playing Coronation StreetEllie has been seeing troubled teenager Faye since she was nine Strictly as marking the beginning of a whole new chapter in her life.
“People saw me growing up Corrie and maybe they’ll still think I’m still that schoolgirl, but hopefully people can see that I’m all grown up now,” she says. “I want people to know me for me, not as a character.”
Ellie is excited to be dancing on Strictly this year
Ellie’s advice from Strictly alumni
Being caught up on the nation’s favorite dance competition so soon after you pulled it out of comfort Coronation Street it was “unexpected,” she says.
“I’ve always wanted to do Strictlyso I was beside myself and so shocked that it happened so soon after leaving Corrie”, says Ellie, who received a lot of advice from her former colleagues and actresses Strictly students, including Catherine Tyldesley, who performed in 2019, 2015 finalist Georgia May Foote and 2022 contestant Kym Marsh.
“Kym said to me, ‘You’re going to have the best time and just enjoy it’. A lot of previous contestants have said it’s over in the blink of an eye,” says Ellie.
Strictly the latest
Ellie’s acting experience
The star may be used to being in front of the TV cameras – and her acting skills will no doubt help when it comes to serious or sensual dances like the rumba – but Ellie feels the pressure of dancing live in front of the nation every week. be a completely different game.
“Live [television] aspect really scares me because it’s completely different from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “On Corriewe were told to ignore the cameras and pretend they weren’t there, but they were on Strictly, you have to perform for them. But I’m excited to push myself out of my comfort zone.”
Every previous winner of Strictly Come Dancing
- 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner of Brendan Cole)
- 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett)
- 2005: Darren Gough (partner of Lilia Kopylova)
- 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner of Karen Hardy)
- 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler)
- 2008: Tom Chambers (partner of Camilla Dallerup)
- 2009: Chris Hollins (partner of Ola Jordan)
- 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev)
- 2011: Harry Judd (partner of Aliona Vilani)
- 2012: Louis Smith (partner of Flavia Cacace)
- 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec)
- 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev)
- 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner of Aliona Vilani)
- 2016: Ore Oduba (partner of Joanne Clifton)
- 2017: Joe McFadden (partner of Katya Jones)
- 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
- 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner of Oti Mabuse)
- 2020: Bill Bailey (partner of Oti Mabuse)
- 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice)
- 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner of Jowita Przystał)
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 30 September on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
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Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education