BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Vito Coppola shares special 'bond' with Sarah Hadland's beloved family member

He shared he had 'finally' met with one of the biggest influences in the Miranda actress's life

Strictly Come Dancing pro Vito Coppola has revealed he 'finally' got to meet Sarah Hadland's beloved family member - and had a pretty instant 'bond'. The Italian dancer, who won the BBC show last year with former partner Ellie Leach, has been keeping audiences entertained with fun and heartfelt performances with the Miranda actress this year.

Sarah, 53, is notoriously private about her life away from her career, keeping her daughter's name and face under wraps. But she does often share photos with her beloved cat Percy.

After five weeks in the competition, and more spent in rehearsals, Vito revealed: "Finally I met Percy and I love him." He added: "It took about half an hour to meet each other, but at the end we had our bond.

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"I just love pet and all the animals on this planet. I think that they are better than us and they can definitely feel when people love them."

While Sarah keeps her daughter out of the spotlight, she did open up about their special bond on last week's live show as she dedicated her dance to her. Speaking with her professional partner in their VT before they took to the floor, Sarah fought back tears as she said that the song they performed their Foxtrot to - Billie Eilish's Birds of a Feather - was a special song they shared.

Sarah said: "[This dance] it's about my family and me and my little one. This song is special to us because we sing it together. It would be really lovely to show how I feel in the dance."

Fans rushed to comment on Vito's meeting with Percy, with one wrote: "What a gorgeous chonk he is too. He is looking like he will have words with Mama later about the unexpected squeezefest."

"Got to love Percy," a second wrote, while a third agreed: "Percy is adorable."

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight at 6.35pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.