SHE spent 12 years on our screens as frumpy Coronation Street schoolgirl Faye Windass — but since signing for Strictly Ellie Leach has transformed herself into one of the show’s sassiest stars.
She has turned out to be this year’s dark horse and is now among the favourites to win the BBC One dance contest alongside pro partner Vito Coppola.
Bury-born Ellie, 22, puts her surprise success on the dance floor down to a serious injection of steam from the 31-year-old Italian stallion.
She says: “Vito’s brought out a different side to me, he really pushes me and he is like, ‘You can do this’.
“I didn’t know I had that sass, that’s the side I didn’t realise that I had, but it’s there and I’m loving it.
“Not only is he teaching me a lot about dance, but he’s also teaching me a lot about myself.”
Growing up in front of the camera certainly had its drawbacks for Ellie when it comes her identity.
After being seen quitting the cobbles earlier this year, her first challenge was shaking off her image as single mum Faye.
Up to this year the only time the public got to see her glammed up was when she was on the red carpet at awards nights and other events linked to Corrie.
She says: “I’m really excited that everyone gets to see my personality and see me for me.
“Because I have played a character for so long and she was a character who lived in a school uniform, she didn’t really do anything else.
“The fact that I can use Strictly, the costumes and the hair and makeup, I do feel like it’s completely bringing me out of my shell.”
Although she has worn some dazzling dresses on the show, last week’s performance for Halloween Week was hardly her most glamorous look, as she and Vito were covered in green body paint as they performed the salsa to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor.
Yet it was their best week yet, finishing top of the leaderboard with 38 points out of 40 — including maximum tens from judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas.
They have been riding high in the top three throughout the competition, and this weekend they are set to return to their glamorous best, performing an American Smooth.
All the admiration has been a big boost to Ellie on a personal level, because she has always felt scrutinised since the moment she joined Corrie aged just ten.
She says: “Body confidence is probably something I’ve always really struggled with.
“As a young woman and growing up in the public eye as well, it’s been amazing, but it’s also quite intense, and there’s always eyes on you, everything that you do.
“When you’re dressed up and you’ve got all the costumes on and your hair done and your make-up done and you feel great, you go out there and you smash it, it feels amazing.
“Strictly has given me a newfound confidence that I’ve never really had before.”
But she insists so much of that is down to Vito, who last year reached the series final with Fleur East, who went on to become the new host of Strictly: It Takes Two.
Ellie says: “Vito is a great teacher.
“Sometimes I don’t believe in myself and he believes in me, which is really, really nice.
“It makes me believe in myself and be like, ‘You know what? I can do this’, and I want to do well.”
The gruelling training schedule the Strictly pro puts her through has also seen her shed pounds and tone her body.
And while Ellie is coy about exactly how much weight she has lost, she admits her new figure has changed the way she thinks about herself.
She says: “We train nine till six every day.
“I’ve never really done much activity before, so I’m seeing my body changing.
“But Vito’s keeping me snacked up. We always have snacks on hand, so we’re definitely eating.
“But I think the physical activity side, I can definitely see the impact it’s having.
“The fact that I’ve been dancing on live TV in front of millions of people is crazy to me.
“I do think it gives you a little bit of that confidence to be like, ‘Oh, as if I’ve done that and as if that’s me’.
“When I watch Saturday’s show on a Sunday, I’m like, ‘Is that really me?’
“Sometimes I don’t recognise myself.
“I am growing in confidence every day.
“I don’t know where it comes from.
“In rehearsal I feel like I’m struggling and then I get on that dance floor and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m doing it!’ It’s the weirdest feeling ever!
“It’s important not to let the standard slip, every week I just want to make sure I’m doing my best and really pushing myself.
“We’ve had some amazing scores and amazing feedback, so it’s a lot of pressure to keep going.”
Her success could not have come at a better time because this year was shaping up to be one of the trickiest junctions in her life.
In May it was revealed she had recently split from her model and dancer boyfriend Reagan Pettman after five years together, which came just as she discovered she was leaving Corrie.
Playing Faye was no walk in the park, either.
During her time in Weatherfield she tackled a string of gritty storylines including a teenage pregnancy, sexual assault and the attempted murder of Adam Barlow, who Faye had mistaken for her sex attacker Ray Crosby.
Ellie could have easily gone into a negative spiral after all of that . . . then came the call from Strictly bosses.
She said: “Leaving Corrie was really emotional, but I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason.
“So for Strictly to then come along, I think it’s amazing.
“I never would’ve expected for this to happen. And I’m loving every minute of it.”
The BBC series comes under criticism every year for opening the door to celebrities with a dance background, such as West End star Layton Williams who made his name playing ballet dancer Billy Elliot.
For her pro partner Vito, taking a novice like Ellie and turning them into a dazzling dancer is exactly what the show is about.
Vito says: “Ellie is the representation of someone who doesn’t have any kind of background in any kind of dancing because she has always been acting.
“And now she has the opportunity. But honestly, we have to work double, three times more than usual.
“She represents people that think they cannot do something.
“But at the end they understand they are stronger than what they think they are.
“I keep saying this to her, ‘You are much more special, much stronger, much more confident than what you think you are’.”
And that is finally sinking in for the soap actress.
Ellie says: “Strictly turned me into a fighter.
“It’s made me think so differently, it’s crazy.
“When we watch the pros, they make it look so effortless, they make it look so easy.
“You don’t actually realise how much work goes into that, how much work Vito puts into all the choreography, everything.
“And then having to teach me on top of that, it’s amazing the work he does.”
Now, having notched up Strictly milestones such as Movie Week and the Halloween special, Ellie has got her sights set on being one of the seven dance-duos to make it to the Blackpool Tower show.
She says: “I think it’s everybody’s dream to get to Blackpool, it’s an amazing thing.
“And being northern, it would be amazing. But we really do just take it week by week.
“You can’t take anything for granted, because we don’t know how long we’re going to be here for.
“For me it’s a pinch-me moment and that’s why I’m genuinely so grateful for all the love and support that we’ve received already because I never ever would’ve expected this.”
