Ellie Leach reveals how she broke the Strictly glitterball trophy

Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach has revealed her father fixed her glitterball trophy in his shed after it broke in her luggage.

The former Coronation Street star, 22, became the competition’s youngest winner when she beat Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin and Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell in the live final of the 2023 series in December with her professional partner Vito Coppola.

However, the highly coveted glitterball trophy, which is presented to the winner, took a bit of a battering while on a train journey.

Asked if it was true she had broken the prize, Leach told BBC Breakfast: “Ummm maybe, but it’s all fixed now.

“My dad took it to his shed and he’s fixed it all up.”

Explaining how it happened, she said: “I was just being quite humble, really. I had to get all this stuff from London on the train to Manchester.

“I didn’t want to carry it and be like ‘Oh here I go’ so it was in my bag and it broke.

“My dad fixed it and now it’s perfect, in the middle of the table for everyone to see.”

Leach, who is currently on the Strictly live tour with Coppola, said her time on the show was a transformational experience.

Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola are taking part in the Strictly live tour (Jacob King/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jacob King

She said: “Strictly has changed my life so so much. I didn’t realise how much I would have learned about myself and how much I would have grown in confidence and I just feel like it completely changed me for the better.

“It’s something that’s completely out of my comfort zone. I’ve never danced before, so it’s the unknown. And usually, I’m so scared of the unknown, whereas I feel like I just really tried to embrace the whole experience, and for me, that’s what worked.

“I just was like, ‘You know what, whatever Vito says to me, I’m just going to do it. Because what’s the point in saying no?’

“I’m a lot more like that. I’ll say yes to things, because if not, then I probably would be wondering what if?

“We just had so much fun on the show, and we’re just having the best time on the tour as well.

“As much as it was overwhelming at the start, now I’m kind of getting into the swing of things at the tour, the shows are becoming easier, more fun.

“We’re just getting back into a routine and it’s amazing.”