Vito Coppola has declared his love for his Strictly Come Dancing co-star as they prepare for a reunion before he returns home to Italy to spend time with his family.

The energetic professional dancer was partnered with actress Sarah Hadland during the BBC One dance contest's 2024 series and the excitable partnership quickly captured the hearts of viewers.

They then made it all the way to the final of Strictly's 20th-anniversary series, which took place back in mid-December, during which Vito and Sarah were seen just missing out on lifting the Glitterball trophy to eventual champions Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell.

After heading off to enjoy their Christmas and New Year with their families, Vito and Sarah were seen excitedly reuniting in January as they prepared to embark on the Strictly Come Dancing Live 2025 tour. But, as the tour was about to get underway in mid-January, Vito confirmed he had suffered an injury.

He was then replaced by his co-star Nikita Kuzmin until he was back to full strength and while Vito did make a return to the stage, and was seen lifting the Glitterball trophy having been voted the show winners by the live audience, the Italian star had to confirm he wasn't able to finish the tour, which has since come to an end on Sunday (February 9), as he had hoped.

Vito is now preparing to reunite with Sarah once more as she's been confirmed as a special guest at his and Shirley Ballas' special Valentine's Day dance class. Sharing a picture of them during the one live arena show they did together, Vito wrote on Instagram; " love this pic that has been taken in one of the most spontaneous moments. It says so much and it’s perfect just like this. Team Tiramisú on stage at least for once during the tour. A big Hug is all we need!

 
Vito did get to perform with Sarah for one last time in an arena (Image: Vito Coppola Instagram)
 

"I will go to Italy soon as you know. I need a bit of time with my family, but I am super happy that we have the chance to spend one more day together on Valentines. There is so much to come yet, but I am always grateful to my life for bringing beautiful people like you to me."

He went on to emotionally shared: "I am sorry that I was not able to guide you during the tour, I’ve tried. At least we can Rumba for one more time. I mean what’s better than Team Tiramisú dancing a Rumba with your fav judge @shirleyballas. I have chosen this music because represents you, us and also because the place where we are going to have our @dancewithshirleyandvito Valentines masterclass is the same where we have rehearsed and finished the routine of Icons week. Wow time flies."

Vito added:" Love you Trilly. Cannot wait to hug you and spend a beautiful valentines together celebrating Love. Let’s go Trillyyy #teamtiramisu #alwayswithlove." And Sarah was quick to respond: "Oh my beautiful Vito. I love this picture and you of course. We got to dance those amazing dances together one last time and we got to lift the glitterball . I cannot wait to see you and hear 'Let’s go Trilly.'"