Strictly winner Ellie Leach's dad 'fixed glitterball trophy in shed'

Leach won the glitterball with her professional partner Vito Coppola in the 2023 series

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

The former Coronation Street star was handed the trophy after taking the BBC show's top prize with her professional partner Vito Coppola in December.

However, the 22-year-old said it accidentally took a bit of a battering on her journey home to Manchester.

"My dad took it to his shed and he's fixed it all up", she said.

Leach told BBC Breakfast that the accident happened while she was trying to be "quite humble" in the days after her success.

"I had to get all this stuff from London on the train to Manchester," she said.

"I didn't want to carry it and be like 'oh here I go', so it was in my bag and it broke."

She said on arrival in the North, she handed it to her father, who knew just what to do.

"My dad fixed it and now it's perfect," she said.

She added that it was now in pride of place "in the middle of the table for everyone to see".

Leach said being in the show had been a transformational experience

Leach, who has been performing on the Strictly live tour with Coppola, also said taking part in the show had been something that was "completely out of my comfort zone" and, as she had never danced before, was also a step into "the unknown".

"Usually, I'm so scared of the unknown... I just really tried to embrace the whole experience, and for me, that's what worked," she said.

"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?'"

She added that it had been a transformational experience.

"I didn't realise how much I would have learned about myself and how much I would have grown in confidence," she said.

"I just feel like it completely changed me for the better."