Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Vito Coppola shared details of his spaghetti gaffe during his live dance routine with partner Fleur East.
The dance professional recalled having to eat during their performance on Sunday evening’s live BBC One show, only for some spaghetti to become lodged in his throat through their routine.
Appearing alongside his dance partner Fleur on Strictly's spin-off show It Takes Two on Tuesday evening, Vito said he was forced to continue his Italian-inspired Charleston despite still having food stuck in his throat.
Host Rylan Clark asked the star if it was the ‘biggest challenge’ he’s faced in his dancing career so far, saying: “Listen you're an Italian, I'm sure you love a bit of spaghetti now and again. But whilst dancing?”
Vito explained that while he was only supposed to eat one strand of the pasta from his plate, he couldn’t resist and took more of the plateful.
But before he had time to swallow what was in his mouth, it was time to hit the dance floor, leaving him ‘choking’ throughout the routine.
He said: "At the beginning it was just to take one spaghetti and then to pull it out. But of course the temptation, so I did like two or three.
“Next it was time to dance, so I just bit, I was chewing and for the whole dance, I was choking.”
Sitting next to him on the sofa, Fleur added: “He was committed, he was committed to the role.”
Despite the under the radar choking hazard, Fleur and Vito won over the judges with their exceptional dance and scored an impressive 39 points.
Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed its line-up for the 2022 final of the BBC One ballroom show after Will Mellor became the latest star eliminated.
The Coronation Street actor landed in the dreaded dance-off during the results show on Monday night, with only Anton du Beke choosing to save him.
The show is now hurtling towards the grand finale next weekend after another glitter-filled run on BBC One, which has faced disruption in recent weeks due to the Qatar World Cup.
The stars that have successfully clinched places in the final are Molly Rainford, Fleur East, Helen Skelton and Hamza Yassin, who are now all in with a chance of winning the Glitterball trophy.
The 20th Strictly final will be hosted by duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman just a week before Christmas on Saturday, December 17, and sitting on the judging panel is Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke.
