‘Bobby & I had great time on tour… we’ll always be friends’, Strictly champ Ellie Leach on Bobby Brazier romance rumours
Ellie on bonding with Bobby and how Strictly came to the rescue when she was at her lowest
LAST summer, Ellie Leach found herself facing a future that looked frighteningly uncertain.
After 12 years on Coronation Street, she’d quit the ITV soap (a move that wasn’t entirely her decision), leaving behind her comfort zone and financial security.
With no other work on the horizon, Ellie was at her lowest ebb.
“I had no job,” she says. “That is the honest truth of it – I left Corrie and I literally didn’t have one.
“I’d gone from being stable and comfortable in a job that I loved, to suddenly not having any of that.
“I was so scared. I had no idea what I’d do next. I didn’t know anything else.”
What a difference a few months make.
Within a fortnight of her departure from the Weatherfield cobbles, where she’d played troubled Faye Windass since she was just nine years old, Ellie received a call from Strictly Come Dancing that would change her life in ways she still can’t quite comprehend.
‘Strictly came along and absolutely changed my life’
Ellie went on to win last year’s series, but walked away with far more than just the coveted Glitterball trophy.
The experience gave her back her confidence and self-belief, and has led to other career opportunities – she’s currently making her stage debut as Miss Scarlett in the touring production of Cluedo 2 and is about to star in ITV reality show Drama Queens, which starts this week and will follow the lives of female stars from Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.
She says: “I went from leaving Corrie and being so emotional and putting pressure on myself to figure out what I wanted to do in life, to hearing from Strictly – the biggest show on telly.
“It was surreal. I was like: ‘Strictly want to see me?’ I just couldn’t believe it.
“I’m a big believer in everything happening for a reason, and this came along and the timing aligned and it was all perfect.
“And it has absolutely changed my life.”
Strictly also gifted Ellie, 23, friendships she will treasure forever.
There is Vito Coppola, her pro dance partner.
And, of course, if the rumours are anything to go by, there was a new love interest too, in the form of fellow finalist and EastEnders star Bobby Brazier, 20.
The Sun on Sunday first broke the story back in January that their friendship had developed into something more during the Strictly live tour.
Sources claimed they’d enjoyed a string of secret dates and they’d been the talk of the tour bus.
However, last month it was revealed the romance is over, ending as quickly as it began.
When asked about it today, the usually chatty Ellie won’t confirm or deny that she and Bobby were together, however briefly.
But she does admit that the tour gave them the opportunity to grow closer.
“We’d obviously built an amazing friendship during the show, but it was really nice to be able to spend time with each other – and with everyone – on the tour.
“During the series, you’re with your dance partner 24/7, and when you’re in the studio on Friday and Saturday there are time constraints, so you don’t really get to spend time with each other.
“On tour, we were able to be together and learn about each other, which we hadn’t really had the chance to do until then.”
She adds that it was the fact they were the youngest contestants on the series that initially drew them to each other.
Vito says that I started Strictly as a girl and finished it as a woman
Ellie Leach
“We were the youngest people in Strictly and both going through that same experience – one which nothing can prepare you for.
“And I think doing that at the same time as someone else gives you something to relate to and to bond over.
“We’re great friends. We got along really well, and we still do.
“It’s just been announced that Bobby’s doing Soccer Aid and I’m really looking forward to that.
“So it’s very exciting and we’ve had a great time on tour, and we’ll always have Strictly in common to fall back on and reminisce over.”
Bobby aside, it is the other man in Ellie’s life who she credits with helping turn her fortunes around.
Viewers fell in love with the partnership between her and Vito just as much as their performances – that breathtaking final show dance featuring some of the most complicated and dangerous lifts ever seen on the show was a demonstration of the absolute trust between them.
“Vito says that I started Strictly as a girl and finished it as a woman,” says Ellie. “I never expected to learn so much about myself.
“The experience changed the person I am for the better. It’s changed my whole outlook on life.
“He believed in me from day one, and without that, I wouldn’t have made it through the first few weeks, let alone got to the final and lifted the Glitterball trophy with him.
“I honestly don’t think he’ll ever realise how much of an impact he’s had on my life and how he’s built up my confidence.
There are always rumours about people and everyone loves a Strictly romance…
Ellie Leach
“I’ve seen the growth within myself and the fact that other people can see that as well, makes it really special.
“I’m so proud of the journey I’ve had and of the person I’ve become – and am still becoming.”
She says they speak and text every day, and that she misses him.
But speculation that they were romantically involved (while it certainly didn’t harm their chances of winning) was wide of the mark.
“Ha! There are always rumours about people and everyone loves a Strictly romance… But we are the best of friends.
“All the pros are amazing at what they do, but Vito and I got along straightaway. I just sensed he was my type of person.
“When I walked into that room and saw him, I immediately felt calm, which is very strange, because he is the least calm person ever! He’s like a puppy.
“But I knew I was going to be looked after and we were just the perfect partnership for each other.”
‘I can’t just sit back and let people say horrible things about me’
There has, however, been a catch to all the happiness and success.
The higher profile has gone hand in hand with an uptick in online abuse by social media trolls, and it’s something Ellie felt compelled to address on her Instagram recently.
“It’s a hard subject to talk about, as I don’t want it to come across like I’m being negative or for people to take whatever I say the wrong way.
“But at the same time, I can’t just sit back and let people be horrible about me. I didn’t want to stand for it anymore.
I just wish people would think before they write a nasty comment
Ellie Leach
“There have been times in the past where people have said things that weren’t very nice about my character on Corrie or about me as an actor, but with Strictly it was more personal – about the way I look and my personality.
“Sometimes I wonder if these people have children or grandkids who are the same age as me.
“I just wish people would think before they write a nasty comment.
“I don’t know what the thought process is behind it, but I don’t think people realise that we actually see it.
“And that it will probably affect us more than they know.”
Ellie is at pains to stress that the vast majority of comments and messages she receives are positive and that she enjoys engaging with her followers.
But it is often impossible to block out the personal attacks.
“I love being able to connect with people who like what I’m doing.
But the flip side is opening yourself up to those other people who are quick to judge.
And it’s fine saying: ‘Don’t let people who don’t know you personally bring you down,’ but as much as I want to ignore the negatives, it is hard.
“I know it comes with the job and I try to remember that as long as my friends and family know who I am and what’s going on in my life, then that’s the most important thing to me.”
‘There wasn’t much more I could do with my character in Corrie’
Those friends and family make up Ellie’s tight-knit circle – she still lives with her parents and she confesses that, despite the months of touring with Cluedo 2 that lie ahead, she’s very much a “home bird”.
It was Ellie’s mum Karen who put her into acting classes at the age of four to help overcome her shyness, which led to her winning the part of foster child Faye on Corrie (where her real-life older cousin Brooke Vincent already played Sophie Webster) back in 2011.
Over the years, she has been at the centre of some hard-hitting stories, including teen pregnancy, sexual assault and premature menopause.
So it came as a surprise to many to hear that she was leaving the cast last summer, followed by reports suggesting she’d been axed and that her Corrie colleagues were upset by her treatment.
“It did kind of come to a point where there wasn’t much else I could have done with Faye and I felt it might be coming to an end,” says Ellie.
“I spoke to the writers and asked what was next for her. They said they weren’t sure and that maybe it was her time.
“Obviously that was emotional, because I’d been there for so long and the thought of leaving that part of my life behind was scary.
“But the world works in mysterious ways, and if I’d stayed at Corrie I wouldn’t have been able to do Strictly.”
She hasn’t had time to wallow in any post-Strictly blues, though.
Strictly taught me that when it’s live, anything can happen!
Ellie Leach
After Helen Flanagan pulled out of Cluedo 2 due to medical reasons, Ellie was drafted in and began rehearsals in the last week of the Strictly tour, commuting between Nottingham and London in order to fulfil both commitments.
“It was a quick turnaround, but I think that was probably good for me, as I didn’t have time to overthink it.
“I was thrown into rehearsals a little later than everyone else, so I knew I needed to be on my A-game.”
With a script by Birds Of A Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, Cluedo 2 brings the much-loved board game to life in a 1960s-set comical whodunnit.
“There have been a few mishaps onstage, but Strictly taught me that when it’s live, anything can happen!
“I’m learning a lot from the cast and I’m really enjoying it.
“I adore the show. It’s a really funny murder mystery and I feel grateful that I’m having this experience and being able to see different parts of the country.”
“I’ve also loved filming Drama Queens. I’m so excited to see everything that we’ve filmed and for everyone to get more of an insight into what our lives are like away from being on a soap.”
She says she’s happy to live in the moment and isn’t looking too far beyond November and the end of the theatre run just yet.
The reason she can do that is because she has faith that opportunity will knock again.
“Who knows what’s going to happen next?” she says.
“I’m excited about whatever it is, because Strictly has given me the confidence and belief that I can do anything I put my mind to.”