BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Fleur East and Vito…

BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Fleur East and Vito Coppola speak out on 'cover-up' claims on ITV Loose Women

Fleur East and Vito Coppola have broken their silence after being hit by 'cover-up' and 'fix' claims after it emerged they had to restart their Strictly Come Dancing dance-off performance last weekend. The singer and radio host and her Italian dancer partner landed in the bottom two following the show's Halloween special.

Fleur and Vito pulled out all the stops for their energetic salsa routine to Beyonce’s Break My Soul. However, they ended up under the dreaded red light of dance-off doom alongside EastEnders star James Bye and his professional partner Amy Dowden, who finished in the bottom two after their Charleston to Bumble Bee by LaVern Baker.

Both couples had to re-perform their Saturday night routines and the judges unanimously voted to save Fleur and Vito. However, reports have since claimed that the couple got a second chance at performing the routine after a spectacular fall, causing everybody in the studio to let out a loud gasp in shock.

The BBC has since said the restart had been permitted because the pair had "not begun to dance" before the incident occurred. In a statement, via the PA news agency, a BBC spokesperson said the show had been stopped "as a matter of urgency".

“After an incident with a prop at the beginning of Fleur and Vito’s dance-off performance, the decision was made to halt proceedings to check they were not injured, as a matter of urgency,” the spokesperson said. "As they had not begun to dance before the incident occurred, it was decided they could start the performance again, once it was confirmed they were fit to do so."

Appearing on Loose Women on Thursday (November 2) Kaye Adams, who was the first celebrity to be kicked off of the 2022 series, was quick to get the subject "out of the way" after it hit the headlines. "Basically, in the first few seconds of our number I just fell down on the chair," Vito said.

"Everyone was gasping there but luckily they made sure I was ok and able to restart, so thank you, and I'm fine. I'm here today," he added with a laugh. "But you hadn't started the dance so it's fine." Nadia Sawalha interjected to which Vito confirmed: "No, we were actually continuing."

Fleur and Vito during their routine on Saturday night (PA)

He added: "We always say if anything happens, let's keep going and I was starting to stand up she was spinning the wheel [a prop in the routine]..." Fleur laughed: "I was ready... the show must go on." As the audience and panel laughed Fleur explained: "And then production decided to stop the music."

Kaye went on to praise Fleur's 'strength of character' after finding the dance-off herself 'overwhelming'. The Hits Radio host said: "It's terrifying, it really is. Because you have a wave of relief... when you've done I on Saturday night you think, 'great, we've done it. That was really scary,' but as soon as you find yourself in the dance-off you think I've got to do all that again under all that pressure."

On being on the dance-off twice, Fleur said: “It’s hard not to take it personally but to tell you the truth I’m not a trained dancer no matter what anybody thinks. I’ve never been to stage school. I don’t know what toe is, what heel is… [Vito] will tell you, I don’t know any of it.

"I’ve literally just been winging it to be honest. The thing is when you sing, you have the mic in your hand. You’re controlling the vocals, you can't really move that much to be honest. It’s like smoke and mirrors - you’ve got dancers behind you and If I’ve ever done a music video and I can’t get a dance move, they’ll change it because I'm the singer. I’ve never had to do anything I can’t do."

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