Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola was left red-faced on Saturday when he suffered a wardrobe malfunction live on air.

The Italian dancer, 32, and his celebrity partner Sarah Hadland, 53, wowed Strictly fans over the weekend with the first Argentine Tango of the series, earning the joint top of the leader board with a score of 38.

But the incredible performance suffered a sticky start as Vito struggled to get Sarah into a lift – before the dancer’s trousers split during the routine.

Vito was seen covering his bottom with his hands as he walked across the dance floor following the routine in an attempt to protect his modesty.

Speaking to Claudia Winkleman in the Clauditorium after the performance, he said: ‘Everything is together, a bit of overbalance, everything happened right now. My wig and you and the dress, and my trousers broke right here.’

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Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola was left red-faced on Saturday when he suffered a wardrobe malfunction live on air

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The Italian dancer, 32, and his celebrity partner Sarah Hadland , 53, wowed Strictly fans over the weekend with the first Argentine Tango of the series, earning the joint top of the leader board with a score of 38

Then while speaking to Claudia, Vito showed her the rip in his trousers – which were a pair of three-quarter lengths as part of his vampire costume.

The dance got roaring comments from the judges, as Craig Revel Horwood called it ‘the most wonderful, wonderful, Argentine Tango we’ve seen’.

Meanwhile Motsi Mabuse said: ‘I’ll keep it short, dance of the night. Congratulations.’

‘It was really quite spectacular,’ Shirley added after giving the pair a standing ovation. ‘I thought the lifts were fantastic, it was done with ease.

‘You worked as a team. You had it all going on, you’re magic really sprinkled on you tonight.’

Fans also noticed the malfunction, as they wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘What’s that? Vito split his britches?’;

‘Oh NO Vito’s torn his trousers,’; ‘Vito split his trousers, you say? *thinks things*.’

Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez became the fifth couple to be sent packing from Strictly Come Dancing during Sunday night’s results show.

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But the incredible performance had a sticky start, as Vito struggled to get Sarah into a lift – and he later revealed he actually split his trousers during the routine

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Speaking to Claudia Winkleman in the Clauditorium after the performance, he said: ‘Everything is together, a bit of overbalance, everything happened right now. ‘My wig and you and the dress, and my trousers broke right here’

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The dancer was seen holding on to his bottom as he walked across the dance floor over to the judges’ panel after the performance

The TV doctor, 41, and the professional dancer, 34, were eliminated following a dance off against Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu.

After landing in the bottom two, both couples danced their hearts out to stay in the competition, with Punam and Gorka going first to perform their Tango to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics.

Then, Shayne and his dance partner Nancy performed their Paso Doble to In The Hall of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.

After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts, with Craig, Motsi and Anton Du Beke all opting to save Shayne and Nancy.

After winning the majority vote, Shayne and Nancy kept their place on the show, while Punam and Gorka were revealed to be going home.

Head judge Shirley Ballas agreed with her fellow judges and said she would have also chosen to save Shayne and Nancy.

Speaking about time on the show, Punam said: ‘I am really proud of myself. You know I’ve taken on something that’s so out of my comfort zone.

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Then while speaking to Claudia, Vito showed her the rip in his trousers – which were a pair of three-quarter lengths as part of his vampire costume

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View gallery

The dance got roaring comments from the judges, as Craig Revel Horwood called it ‘the most wonderful, wonderful, Argentine Tango we’ve seen’

Fans also noticed the malfunction, as they wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘What’s that? Vito split his britches?’

‘The one thing that I’ve very much learnt is to say yes more, and that there is no point in your life when you can stop learning new skills.

‘I’ve learnt more than dancing, I’ve learnt so much from Gorka. Everyone’s been so incredible and it’s just memories that I’ll take home forever and I am very proud. I’ve made my family very proud, I’m just really grateful.’

Host Tess Daly asked what Punam’s family thought about her Strictly journey, she replied: ‘My kids are so proud, my parents, my husband, everyone.

‘This is just one of those things that I have dreamt about for years and I think to have one of your dreams genuinely come true is just a surreal feeling.

‘Week after week it’s been incredible, I’ve made friends for life and everyone’s just been so kind, so thank you.’

While Gorka gushed about his partner’s progress and admitted he was ‘honoured’ to have performed the pair’s Bollywood dance during Movie Week, to ‘show your culture to the world’.

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Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez became the fifth couple to be sent packing from Strictly Come Dancing during Sunday night’s results show (pictured)

He said: ‘It’s been incredible, it’s been a fantastic six weeks. I’m very proud of what she has achieved. She’s a GP and a Mum. She had never danced before and I think she improved week by week.

‘I think she is truly what the show is about, someone who doesn’t have experience in the performance world came here and learnt to dance. She wanted to do so well and worked so hard.

‘Also I feel very proud and very honoured that we got to do a Bollywood dance, to represent your culture, show your culture to the world and open doors for so many people in your culture.’