Strictly star Ellie Leach ahead of live tour: I have fallen in love with dancing

Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach said she has “completely fallen in love with dancing” ahead of heading out on the road for the show’s live tour.

The former Coronation Street star, 22, became the competition’s youngest winner in December after she beat Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier in the grand finale.

Leach will once again team up with her dancing partner Vito Coppola for the upcoming 30 shows across the country, which kick off next week.

Speaking about her experience on the show, she told the PA news agency: “I think that I have completely fallen in love with dancing.

“Obviously I’ve never danced before so it’s something that’s completely new to me.

“But I really, really hope that I can carry it on because I’ve had so much fun.”

The actress added: “I’ve grown so much as a person and it’s completely changed my outlook on life.

“I used to be scared to say yes to things whereas now I just embrace it and I’m like, ‘Yeah, why not? What’s the worst that could happen?’.”

Looking ahead to the tour, she admitted she grew stiff after not dancing over the Christmas break but has been getting back up to speed with the routines recently alongside partner Coppola.

The tour will also feature six other stars from the 2023 series, including finalists Williams and Brazier.

Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin during rehearsals at a London dance studio ahead of the opening of the Strictly Come Dancing (PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jordan Pettitt

Williams said he has been embraced with “love” by the public since the final, saying: “I’m grateful that the journey was a successful one.”

News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, broadcaster Angela Rippon, Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon and former tennis star Annabel Croft are also among the line-up.

Channel 4 news anchor Guru-Murthy said he never planned to do the tour because he did not think he would last very long during the series.

He said: “I enjoyed it much more than I could have ever imagined so when I went out I thought the chance to do the tour would be brilliant.”

Guru-Murthy will dance with professional Jowita Przystal for the tour after being paired with Lauren Oakley for the 2023 series.

EastEnders star Brazier will pair up again with his 2023 partner Dianne Buswell and Williams will rejoin his original partner Nikita Kuzmin.

Dianne Buswell and Bobby Brazier will team up again for the tour (PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jordan Pettitt

Rippon will once again team up with Kai Widdrington and Scanlon will continue to dance with Carlos Gu.

Former tennis champion Croft will change partners for the tour, joining Graziano Di Prima after dancing with Johannes Radebe during the TV series.

The couples will be joined on tour by fellow professional dancers Nadiya Bychkova, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Robbie Kmetoni, Jake Leigh and Nancy Xu.

Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will return to their judging seats, while It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara will host.

The 2024 tour will open at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on January 19 before moving to other cities including Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds.

The run will end with five shows as The O2 in London from February 9 to 11.

At the end of each show, the audience will vote to decide who wins the coveted glitterball trophy.