Strictly Come Dancing professional Vito Coppola suffered an awkward wardrobe malfunction when his trousers came undone mid-routine during Saturday night’s final (14 December).
Coppola and his partner, the Miranda star Sarah Hadland, are among those vying for the glitterball trophy in tonight’s final as they compete against Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell, Tasha Ghouri and her partner Aljaž Škorjanec and JB Gill and his pro partner Lauren Oakley.
The pair were performing an American Smooth to “Proud” by Heather Small when Coppola’s trousers came loose, and he had to use his free hand to hold them up for the duration of the routine.
Follow along with our live coverage of the Strictly Come Dancing final here.
When the dance finished, Coppola and Hadland broke into laughter as host Tess Daly acknowledged that the professional dancer had experienced a “wardrobe issue”.
As the pair approached the judges, Daly asked: “Are you OK Vito?” adding: “Can you go on with maintaining your decency?”
Hadland then used a piece of fabric from her dress to cover Coppola’s crotch, as he held up his trousers with both hands.
“That aside, that dance was absolutely magical,” said Daly, while judge Shirley Ballas assured them that there might have been a malfunction with the clothing, but not with the routine.
“That was absolutely superb,” she concluded.
So far on tonight’s final, all four celebrity contestants dazzled judges while professional dancer Amy Dowden delighted viewers when she made a surprise cameo in a group routine after previously pulling out of the competition.
Finalist JB Gill was formerly partnered with Dowden until she was forced to pull out of the competition after sustaining a stress fracture in her shin. She was advised by doctors to take several weeks off to recover, and therefore she was replaced by pro Oakley.
While Dowden could no longer compete in the competition, she popped up in the opening routine for the final as she smiled and winked at the camera.
“So amazing seeing Amy back on the dancefloor,” said one fan on X/Twitter, as another added: “We’ve missed her.”
