They’re the Strictly Come Dancing couple who have been strutting their stuff on the dance floor each week – but eagle eyed fans think there is something more than just a working relationship between Ellie Leach and her professional partner, Vito Coppola.
In several of his social media posts, the Italian dancer has given the Coronation Street actor cute nicknames, including “my baby”, “my Lulu” and “diamond”, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by their followers.
And Amanda Abbington – who pulled out of the competition in week five – fuelled the rumours even further when she called the pair the “most beautiful couple” in an Instagram comment.
Things then came to a head when Ellie and Vito were spotted dancing very closely together during rehearsals, and the professional even gave her a cheeky kiss during the live show on Saturday night.
However, now addressing the rumours, Ellie insisted that all these signs are just evidence of their “deep friendship”.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, she insisted: “It was only a kiss on the cheek. He gives me a kiss on the cheek every Saturday!
“We really, really get along and we have a lovely friendship. I hope we can continue that. We’ve got a really good relationship where we kind of know what the other needs.”
Vito added that he is a “very, very warm person”, and continued: “I just like to hug. But no, we’re a good team.”
On Sunday’s results show, Vito also explained the reasons behind his nickname for Ellie.
“I think for me Ellie is like a diamond, but not like a normal diamond, she is this rough diamond that you need to put under pressure and shine the front and the sides,” he told host Claudia Winkleman. “At the moment we are in between the shiny and the rough!”
Whatever the nature of their relationship, it’s certainly working wonders for their dance routines.
The paid are going from strength to strength on the show, last week scoring 35 out of 40 for their Rumba to Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours, which saw them finish second on the leaderboard.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One.