Last year, Strictly Come Dancing audiences watched as Vito Coppola and Sarah Hadland just missed taking home the Glitterball, with Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell ultimately winning the contest.
Nonetheless, devotees of the dance competition were thrilled at the prospect of seeing Vito and Sarah perform together again during the Strictly tour.
Yet, Vito has disclosed a slight hiccup as he’ll be stepping aside to temporarily be replaced by fellow dancer Nikita Kuzmin for the initial performances.
Speaking on This Morning to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on a Monday, Vito elaborated on his decision to take a short break. Ben broached the topic of Vito’s injury, hinting at a delayed start for him on the tour, reports the Mirror.
Sarah will be dancing with Nikita instead of Vito while he recovers
(Image: ITV)
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He commented: “We hear there was a little injury? You’re not necessarily starting the tour, you will be on tour, but you’re not necessarily starting.”
Vito confirmed that Nikita would indeed partner with Sarah in his absence and spoke about his condition: “I’ve got a little injury. It’s a dancer thing, you know. We’re kind of used to this pain a little bit in the body!”
Intrigued, Ben inquired further about the injury following Vito’s gesture towards his back. To this, the Strictly favourite clarified: “It’s like a lower back pain at the moment.”
Strictly’s Vito Coppola replaced as he opens up on painful injury
He went on to detail the restrictions caused by the injury, expressing his current inability to perform at peak capacity. Vito continued: “Of course, I can walk, I can sit and move but going to dance full on? Lifting and sharp twists of the body, it’s better, at the moment, to have a little rest.”
However, Vito is staying optimistic about reuniting with Sarah on the dance floor, aiming to join the tour as it reaches Sheffield towards the end of January. He indicated his plans for recovery: “Yeah, I’m going to do all the physio and all the assessments this week.”
Sarah commented to Ben and Cat about Vito’s difficulty staying still, prompting him to express his enthusiasm for the routines, he added: “Looking at the rehearsals, I really want to jump in with the dancing!”
Chris won’t be on the Strictly Come Dancing tour after date clashes with his own stand-up tour
(Image: ITV)
Meanwhile, winner Chris McCausland will also be absent from the tour due to scheduling conflicts with his stand-up comedy gigs.
Reflecting on not being able to team up with Dianne once more, Chris explained on This Morning: “It’s fine to have two different feelings about the same thing.”
He added: “I would’ve loved to have done more dancing with Dianne, and it would’ve been a lot of fun, but also I’m very lucky to have people want to watch me do stand-up, and I’m enjoying getting back into that.”
This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am.