Vito Coppola to miss start of Strictly tour due to injury
The Strictly Come Dancing pro will be replaced by Nikita Kuzmin but will rejoin partner Sarah Hadland at a later date.
What did you miss?
Strictly Come Dancing favourites Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola are set to be split up for the start of the live tour as Hadland will be partnered by Nikita Kuzmin instead.
Coppola told This Morning on Monday that he would have to miss the beginning of the Strictly tour because of an injury, but shared the date he was hoping to be back for.
Actor Hadland also gave an insight into the backstage chaos that contestants face during the BBC One show's live episodes, which included being stitched into a costume moments before she was introduced on stage.
What, how and why?
Strictly live tour audiences may be left a little disappointed by the absence of pro cast favourite Vito Coppola, who will be forced to miss some of the early dates because of an injury.
Coppola and Sarah Hadland's partnership was a hit with viewers of the 2024 series, but while Hadland is signed up to the full tour, she will be starting it with a new partner – Nikita Kuzmin.
However, Coppola had good news for Sheffield Arena ticketholders as he told This Morning that he was likely to be recovered in time to rejoin the tour from that point onwards.
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The 2023 series winner said: "At the moment I will be replaced by Nikita because I've got a little injury. It's a dancer thing, we are used to having this kind of pain in the body. It's a lower back pain. I can walk, sit move, but full-on lifting, sharp twist of the body, it's better to have a little rest so hopefully I should be able to dance on the tour from Sheffield.
"I'm going to do all the physio. I really want to jump in and dance. We are going to be back soon, but in the meantime (Hadland) will have the best experience."
The Strictly live tour kicks off in Birmingham from 17-19 January, before making its way on to Sheffield from 21 January. Birmingham audiences will sadly not get to see 2024 runners-up Coppola and Hadland dance together, but the pro is expecting to be fit for the rest of the UK tour which runs until mid-February.
Speaking about her experience in the contest, Miranda star Hadland added: "It's really hard not to get emotional. Before I started this I thought, I hate it when people cry and get really emotional, but by the end you're just a blubbing wreck...It's just the power of Strictly. A, you're exhausted, and B, you've put so much of yourself out there."
Sarah Hadland reveals Strictly's backstage chaos
Strictly viewers are used to seeing one of the most polished live shows on TV during Saturday night episodes, but Hadland lifted the lid on how the backstage team have got an impossible number of costume changes down to a fine art over the last 20 years.
By the time Hadland and Coppola danced in the 2024 final, they were performing three routines in one show - and the actor revealed what had gone into changing the finalists' looks so many times at short notice during the live episode.
She said: "It's like Formula 1. There's someone running with a stopwatch. You strip down, people put you back together. You get run down the corridor. It's very exciting, I feel like James Bond. Jemima Bond.
"You get into make-up and there's literally a pack of people, amazing (head make-up artist) Lisa Armstrong, they're on you. For the Showdance I had a wig I'd never tried on before and they were cutting it on me."
Hadland recalled one particularly tense moment in the episode where she had danced the Charleston: "The little pink tutu, the first time we did that, the top didn't arrive until just before we went on. Vicky Gill (head of costumes) shouted 'needles up ladies' and a pack of people from the darkness appeared.
"The names are being called out (in the live broadcast) and somebody's saying, she needs to go, but Vicky's like, she's going nowhere. Then I ran up the stairs as they introduced us."
This Morning airs on ITV1 at 10am on weekdays.
