Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola has hit back at an online troll in a fiery rant as he stood up for his co-stars. The Italian dancer, 32, faced criticism after sharing a light-hearted video on social media. The clip featured Vito and his celebrity partner Ellie Goldstein, 23, repeatedly pretending to fart during rehearsals. Several fans expressed their enjoyment in the comments section, but not everyone was pleased, with some stating they didn’t find the sketch amusing.

Vito later revealed that model Ellie had received a direct message from a critic about it, prompting him to respond in a video. The message, which Vito shared publicly, described the sketch as “grim” and urged Ellie to ask him to take it down. The critic appeared to suggest that the professional had been spending “too much time” with his colleague Dianne Buswell, 36, and her partner Joe Sugg, 34, and had been “influenced” by the pair.

The message said: “Hey girl, please tell Vito to delete the latest fart video. It’s not really that funny. He’s supposed to be hot and mysterious – and these type of jokes and skits are grim and don’t present him well at all. Just keep to dancing videos, they’re so cute and fun!

“I think Vito has been spending too much time with Dianne and Joe and has been influenced by them (they do fart jokes a lot and it’s also grim) but he’s better than this (and so are you!). Just please upload dancing videos!! He’s good good for embarrassing content like this. Sending love.”

Vito responded to the remarks in a video posted to his Instagram Story this evening, sharing a screenshot of the message he received. In a caption accompanying the post, he warned his followers: “Please, if you don’t want to get blocked, just respect.”

The dancer went on to explain in the video that he usually doesn’t “care” about criticism on social media, but felt the need to speak out as three of his close friends were mentioned.

Vito declared: “I don’t really pay attention but in this case you touched three important people to me so … Dianne and Joe, they are really my friends, they are family to me. So you better watch your mouth, yeah, before you speak of certain people.

“Second, don’t send this message to Ellie because she’s my little sister and I am very protective. I do care a lot so please … I already advised Ellie to block this profile and whoever is gonna even try to say something like this.”

Vito then challenged the use of “hey girl” at the beginning of the message directed at Ellie, questioning whether the sender actually knows her personally, reports the Mirror.

He concluded in the video: “I don’t think so, so maybe ‘hey girl’ to someone else.” Wrapping up his message, Vito urged supporters to spread positivity and steer clear of “hate”.

He added: “So please, only joy, smile, enjoyment, whatever you want but please no hate. Mwah, love and peace.”