Vito Coppola declares love to axed Strictly Come Dancing star amid 'true friendship' admission

The dancer revealed that his 'true friendship' with a former Strictly Come Dancing star is still going strong after the BBC show

Strictly Come Dancing's Vito Coppola(Image: Vito Coppola Instagram)

Vito Coppola has revealed that his 'true friendship' with a former Strictly Come Dancing star is still going strong, a year after they were axed from the show.

The professional dancer is best known for being part of the hit dance show, having joined back in 2022 alongside fellow pros Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.

He's made the final with each of his celebrity dance partners - Fleur East, Ellie Leach and Sarah Hadland - to date, going all the way to lift the coveted Glitterball trophy with former Coronation Street star Ellie.

Vito is now back in rehearsals for the upcoming run of the BBC One dance contest, having been confirmed to be returning in the pro dancer line-up earlier this year.

As well as Vito, Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Nadiya Bychkova, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Gorka Marquez and Luba Mushtuk will all take to the floor once more.

The Strictly pros are back together(Image: Nadiya Bychkova Instagram)

They will also be joined by Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Aljaž Škorjanec, Nancy Xu, Kai Widdrington, Michelle Tsiakkas, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley and Nikita Kuzmin.

It was also confirmed that two new professional dancers will be joining the show and the newcomers have since been revealed as So You Think You Can Dance champion Alexis Warr and Australia’s Dancing With The Stars' Julian Caillon.

They were seen joining the pros in preparation for Strictly 2025 as rehearsals kicked off on Monday (July 28) ahead of the group numbers being pre-recorded in early August, to be used throughout the series when it makes a sparkling return in the autumn.

But away from rehearsals, Vito is getting support from one of his former co-stars and long-time friends. Taking to Instagram on Thursday morning (July 31), the Italian star shared a video clip of his FaceTime call with Graziano Di Prima.

Vito shared a glimpse at his FaceTime call with Graziano(Image: Vito Coppola Instagram)

Alongside the video, in which the two dancers could be seen blowing kisses to one another, Vito wrote in view of his followers: "Always start the day with love. Love and miss you @grazianodiprima." He then added in form of a hashtag 'true friendship never dies'.

Aa fans will be aware, Graziano was due to return to Strictly for its 20th-anniversary series last year, but shortly after the professional dancer line-up was announced in June ahead of the 2024 series launch in September, it was confirmed by the BBC that he would no longer be returning to the ballroom with the dancer saying he "deeply regretted" the events that led to his exit.

A BBC spokesperson previously said at the time: "We can confirm that Graziano Di Prima is no longer a part of the line-up of professional dancers for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing. While we would never comment on individual cases, it is well-known that the BBC has established robust duty of care procedures, and if issues are raised we will always take them seriously and act swiftly as appropriate."

But Vito and Graziano have remained friends and the pair were seen together back in December as they posed for a photo behind the scenes at the final of Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian version of Strictly and Dancing with the Stars, which another former Strictly star, Giovanni Pernice, won.