BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas supports Vito Coppola as they issue statement on joint move

Shirley Ballas has shown her support for Vito Coppola after they issued a statement about their upcoming joint venture away from the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom.

The show's head judge and professional dancer revealed before Christmas that they'll be teaming up as they tour the country as part of the Strictly Come Dancing Live 2025 tour.

Shirley and Vito confirmed they would be holding dance classes in the various cities they'll visit while on the road. They've since put a string of dates together and in a recent video, Vito updated fans on the upcoming dance classes.

He shared a video on Instagram in which the beaming star in which he said: "Dancing with Us is ready to go on the road!" before he explained that as well as sharing their knowledge of dance, its also an "exchange of love".

But now, it's been confirmed Vito will be delayed in joining Shirley at the classes. It comes after Vito confirmed he will be missing the start of the tour, where he is performing with his 2024 dance partner Sarah Hadland, and will be replaced by Nikita Kumzin until he's back to full strength after suffering an injury during rehearsals.

He told hosts Cat Deely and Ben Shephard on This Morning earlier this week: "At the moment I'm being replace by Nikita because I've got a little injury," before he wriggled and pointed towards his back. "It's a dancer thing. We're used to having this kind of pain through our body."

Ben tried to clarify what his injury is, to which Vito said: "It's a lower back pain at the moment. I can walk, I can sit and move but going and dancing full-on and lifting, it's better to have a little rest so I'll hopefully be able to dance on the tour from Sheffield. I'm going to do all the physio..."

Now, a message on the Dance With Us Instagram page read: "We have an update regarding the Birmingham classes. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Anton Du Beke will be stepping into Vito’s place to teach with Shirley in BIRMINGHAM on both Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th January. Shirley and Anton can’t wait to dance with you in Birmingham!"

Shirley has since reshared the post and said: "@vitocoppola I will miss you in Birmingham. Sending you a big huggg. @mrantondubeke are you warming up?"