Fleur thanked the public for ‘bringing joy back’ to their family (Picture: PA)
Fleur East emotionally thanked the public for ‘bringing happiness back’ to her family’s lives, after an emotional Strictly Come Dancing show dance.
Fleur and dance partner Vito Coppola are battling it out for the glitterball trophy against Helen Skelton and partner Gorka Marquez, Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal, and Molly Rainford with Carlos Gu.
The 35-year-old has previously spoken about paying tribute to her late dad by doing Strictly, after he died from a heart attack in 2020.
After an incredibly emotional show dance, which scored the pair an impressive 39 points, head judge Shirley Ballas commented on how ‘proud’ her dad would have been watching the dance.
‘You are a woman in your own right, that was amazing,’ she began, before adding: ‘I think your dad would be so proud of you. Well done darling.’
Fleur’s dad died in 2020 of a heart attack (Picture: Instagram/fleureast)
Motsi Mabuse commented: ‘I feel like you showcased your power.’
‘You make it happen, and listen to me, I’m going to say this, no matter what happens today, you are a Queen, never forget that.’
After the judges’ comments, Fleur thanked the public: ‘Thank you so much for keeping us in this.
‘Thank you for bringing happiness and joy back into my family’s life. We really needed this and I’ve loved every second of it.’
Speaking ahead of their final dance, Fleur commented on how proud her family are, saying: ‘I was going to do this show for my dad, I just know that he’s been here every step of the way.’
Vito promised to dedicate their win to Fleur’s dad (Picture: BBC/PA)
This comes after Vito promised to dedicate their win to Fleur’s dad.
He told Metro.co.uk and other press: ‘If I win, I will dedicate the win to Fleur’s father.’
The 30-year-old continued: ‘He’s the reason why she wanted to do Strictly because he’s a huge, massive fan, we’re doing this for him.’
Vito also added that he ‘always’ touches the ring Fleur wears ‘everyday’, and feels as though ‘we always have her dad with us’.
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When asked about what her dad would think of them making it to the final, Fleur replied: ‘I don’t know what he would say. I said to Vito when we started that he would have been at every rehearsal, every live show, if he could get up on that stage with us he would be there.
‘And I always say to my husband through this experience, “Can you imagine what he would say?”‘
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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Fleur’s dad was a big Strictly fan.
