STRICTLY stars Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have celebrated their close bond with matching tattoos amid her romance with co-star Bobby Brazier.
It comes after The Sun revealed that Ellie, 24, and EastEnders favourite Bobby, 22, have been enjoying secret dates together while on the Strictly tour.
Ellie and pro dancer Vito have revealed their inkings after they promised to get matching tattoos if they were crowned Strictly champions back in December.
The Corrie actress took to social media to share clips from their trip to tattoo artist Nicola Oprey in Liverpool.
Vito showed off the design which featured a bee and aubergine logo on his upper arm, with the word “resilience” inked underneath.
He explained: “It is going to be a bee with an aubergine body.”
Ellie proudly also showed off her arm and said: “Guys, we’re just done! We are so, so happy.
“The best is Nicola Oprey. There she is, look at her. She’s just the best. It’s beautiful.”
The Italian dancer and the soap star had referred to themselves as the “aubergine team” because Vito loves parmigiana, but decided to add a bee to the design because of its resilience.
Earlier this month, the couple said on ITV‘s This Morning that they were planning on getting tattoos to mark their incredible journey on the BBC One dance competition.
Speaking about his relationship with Ellie, Vito said: “We have a great relationship and we are going to have a tattoo – as a joke – before we got to the final we promised ourselves we would get one of an Aubergine.”
Ellie shared: “We said if we made it to the final we would get a tattoo, but it was just a joke, we didn’t expect to get there.”
Vito added: “At the end we decided to do a B with the body of an Aubergine because a B is a Brazilian insect. But that is a symbol of our bond.”
It comes just days after The Sun revealed that Ellie and Strictly co-star Bobby have been growing close.
An insider said: “Bobby and Ellie are the talk of the tour.
“Their friendship has grown and grown, and they’ve been spending nearly all their free time together before and after performances. They’ve been having their meals together, and flirting increasingly openly.
“The chat on tour is they may have enjoyed a cheeky snog, and will go public with their romance any week now.
“They’re both hugely popular characters, and make a really cute couple. There are also endless commercial opportunities for them as a pair because they are both hugely in demand, with the world at their young feet.
“Everyone is very excited about this hot new pairing.”
Days later Ellie distanced herself from Bobby and the rest of the Strictly gang.
“Ellie is usually really happy go lucky but she’s not been herself recently,” a source said.
“She’s even stopped chatting to fans who have been desperate to see her, which really isn’t like her.
“Ellis is super private and doesn’t really like people talking about her love life.
“She’s just keeping her head down and concentrating on the tour for now.”
Back in May 2023 The Sun revealed that Ellie had split from her boyfriend of five years Regan.
Regan has since revealed that he cheated on the star.
He told The Sun on Sunday: “It sounds cliché but I was really drunk and it all happened at once.
“I knew what I had done was wrong and instantly regretted it.
“I want to rebuild the trust again and for her to be back in my life.
“But if she’s happy with Bobby, then I am happy for her. But I really miss her.”
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