Strictly Come Dancing professional Vito Coppola has revealed he suffered from a life-threatening bulimia battle that caused him to collapse on stage during his early career.
The 33-year-old Italian dancer, who has starred on the BBC flagship entertainment series since 2022, opened up about his struggle with the severe eating disorder during his teenage years and early twenties in the competitive dance industry.
Coppola explained that intense pressure to maintain an ideal physique left him vulnerable to the condition. Judges frequently told him that his bottom was too big or his legs were too chunky as he navigated the toxic environment of elite competition.
According to the NHS, bulimia is a serious eating disorder characterized by binge eating over short periods followed by purging, such as making oneself sick or taking laxative and diuretic medications to prevent weight gain.
The crisis reached a peak when Coppola was competing at the World Championships in Canada in his early twenties. While performing a fast-paced jive routine, the physical strain and lack of nourishment caused him to faint mid-performance.
"I fainted during the jive because I had no energy," Coppola said. "You push yourself but being strong means stepping away from a situation that is toxic and is damaging you. I’ve never gone back [to dangerous eating disorders]."
Pressure in competitive dancing
Reflecting on the months he spent purging his food, Coppola confessed to feeling deep personal shame and guilt over his actions.
"I did it [threw up his food] for a few months but felt very ashamed," he said. "It was a betrayal of my values; I was wasting food. I felt not clean and I didn’t have much love for myself."
His family was initially unaware of the turmoil he was experiencing. His mother first discovered something was wrong when she noticed that food parcels she was sending to him were being left completely uneaten.
Speaking to The Sun, Coppola said: "I felt guilty because my family were so worried about me but they didn’t know what was really going on. They didn’t know I had a problem."
Coppola is set to publish a food memoir, titled Love, Vito, on Thursday, detailing his journey and his relationship with food.
Celebrity MasterChef success and family bonds
Since overcoming the disorder, Coppola has completely transformed his relationship with food, building a reputation for his culinary talent alongside his career on the dance floor.
In 2024, he won the BBC cooking contest Celebrity MasterChef after impressing judges with an Italian-inspired menu. His winning dishes included a special dessert inspired by recipes passed down from his mother and grandmother.
"I cannot believe it! Look [the trophy] it’s so beautiful," Coppola said following his victory. "People think that food is just food, but no, I keep saying food is life. It’s the first love of my life, food, and I cannot just wait to share all of this with my family."
Immediately after lifting the trophy, the dancer telephoned his grandfather to share the news in Italian: "Nonno, I won! I won with your ingredients. I came first! I love you."
Strictly Come Dancing return and cast changes
Coppola is preparing to return to the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom this September for the upcoming series. His return comes amid a major line-up shake-up that saw five veteran professional dancers dropped from the show.
Dancers Karen Hauer, 44, Gorka Marquez, 35, Nadiya Bychkova, 36, Michelle Tsiakkas, 30, and Luba Mushtuk, 36, have all been axed from the professional roster.
Addressing the departures in an interview with The Sun, Coppola offered advice grounded in his years of professional experience: "In the dancing world, there is this rule that I have personally learnt 'never to be too happy or too sad when something happens'. It just helps you to keep grounded and keep moving."
Despite the changes in cast, Coppola described the show as an essential part of his life in the United Kingdom.
"Strictly became my second family, Strictly is the reason I came to the UK," Coppola said. "For me, it's a special bubble. It's a second family. I always say some of the pros are closer, like brothers and sisters and some are like cousins, aunties. I like to recreate my familiar environment."
