Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola have issued a joint statement reflecting on their Strictly Come Dancing win just hours after they hit back at claims they are in a relationship.
Posting on Vito's Instagram page, the duo wrote: "THANK YOU. We want to start by thanking all of you for the support, for the love and for leading us to lift the trophy of the most prestigious program in the world! Our gratitude is infinite and never enough.
"We are over the moon. Wow… What a trip! We still can’t make all this happen. There are so many emotions, between tears of happiness and hugs.
"Thank you so much to all of you. You led our journey and we gave our best, every single week and every single day, always taking risks, in order to give smiles and positive emotions, because this is life, an exchange of gestures that fill people's hearts and if through our workouts and dances we manage to give moments of serenity, carefree and smiles, then we are super happy.
"We all won together, us and you, because we felt each and every one of you so close to us every single moment, words can't even remotely describe the gratitude.
"We thank all the wonderful people who work backstage, because the great work is all because of them. Without the professionalism and sacrifices behind the scenes we would be nothing. Thank you."
They continued: "Thank you and congratulations to all other participants, competitors and professionals. You have been wonderful. It was a unique and unforgettable season."
Ellie and Vito ended their post: "Thanks to @bbcstrictly which is Family. We all win together because Strictly is this, a big family that welcomes everyone and brings happiness to every home. Thank you thank you thank you."
They signed off with a red heart emoji and a prayer emoji as well as posting a snap of them smiling at one another as they lifted the Glitterball Trophy.
The joint statement comes after they appeared on This Morning and insisted they simply had a "good bond".
Ellie told hosts Craig Doyle and Josie Gibson : "We’ve spent every day together for the past three months, so we’re really, really lucky to have that bond that we’ve got and we’ll be friends for life."
Vito added: "We had a good bond. You see a person and connect with the person straight away.
"I’m a first impression person and when we met, straight away we had this feeling that we’ve known each other a long time."
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