BBC Strictly Come Dancing favourite missing from live tour line-up as they're 'replaced' by co-star after blow

One Strictly Come Dancing favourite was forced to miss the launch of the new tour as he's temporarily replaced after suffering an injury blow.

Vito Coppola was recently seen excitedly reuniting with his most recent dance partner Sarah Hadland. Fans of the BBC One dance saw the pair make it through to the final of the 2024 series at the end of last year, having been paired together back at the start of the competition in September.

After losing out on the title to fan-favourites Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell during the grand finale in mid-December, Sarah and Vito were recently seen going their separate ways for the festive season but they were recently brought back together for the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour 2025 alongside other familiar faces from the recent series.

On Thursday (January 16) the stars of Strictly Live provided a preview at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham before they kick off to their first live audience on Friday night (January 17).

Speaking to the PA news agency at the launch, Tasha Ghouri said comedian Chris' partnership with Australian dancer Dianne was so "incredible" and "inspiring", and she felt "so lucky to be part of that this year" but added of his absence: “It’s a shame that he can’t be here, but he’s here with us in our hearts, he really is, truly a special guy."

But Vito was also absent, with Sarah posing for a string of snaps with Nikita Kuzming, after the Italian dancer revealed he's suffered an injury that is seeing him having to rest with the hope of picking up the string of live shows in the next city.

Appearing on This Morning on Monday (January 13), Vito confirmed he will be missing the start of the tour and will be replaced by Nikita until he's back to full strength. He told hosts Cat Deely and Ben Shephard: "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..."

The tour kicks off on Friday (January 17) in Birmingham at the city's Utilita Arena before heading to Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and London, with the final show taking on February 9 at the O2.