Ellie Leach has said performing on Strictly Come Dancing has helped build her “self-confidence” by putting her out of her comfort zone.
The former Coronation Street star, 22, will go up against actors Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier on Saturday night as they compete to win the glitterball trophy.
Leach will take on three dances during the grand finale with her professional partner Vito Coppola, who she said believed in her from the start.
Ahead of the finale, she said: “At the beginning of the competition I really didn’t have much self-confidence or self-belief and that’s something that I’ve always really struggled with.
“So I think that Strictly has really helped me to build on that and grow because, obviously, we go live on Saturday night, which is something that I’m really not used to.
“You (have to) put out to millions of people and doing something that’s completely out of your comfort zone. So, for me, that really helped me in building my self-confidence.”
Leach recalled how she felt dancing on the first live show with millions watching from home, saying it was the “strangest experience ever” but that she got more comfortable as the weeks went on.
She added: “I was like ‘Ok, I’m starting to learn a new skill. I’m starting to learn a lot more about myself’.
“And Vito believed in me from the start and so that made me be like ‘Ok, if Vito believes in me, and he can trust me to do this dance, then maybe I should have a little bit more belief in myself.”
Reflecting back to the beginning of her rehearsals, Leach admitted she was “so nervous” and prewarned Coppola that she did not feel she would be able to do certain movements due to her lack of dance experience.
“Sometimes when you listen to music you can move and you know if you have a little bit of rhythm or not but I honestly didn’t know if I would be able to pick up ballroom and Latin dancing,” she said.
“At the start, I didn’t trust myself at all so as the weeks progressed I was like ‘Ok, I’m starting to get into the groove of things’.”
Leach feels they hit their stride in the competition at the halfway mark when they performed their American smooth to Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by Robbie Williams, which secured them a score of 39 out of 40 and placed them top of the leaderboard that week.
They will return to the dance during the final as they have selected it as their favourite dance.
Leach and Coppola will also perform their paso doble to Insomnia by 2WEI again with their third dance set to be a Jennifer Lopez megamix.
As the last woman standing in the competition, she said she will be “doing it for the girls” but that she feels “so lucky” to be in the final alongside Williams and Brazier.
Addressing her dance partner, Leach added: “For me, Strictly has always been a dream so to have had this experience anyway, I already feel like I’ve won and with you as a teacher, as a partner, I genuinely do feel like I’ve won.
“Obviously it would be nice to win but coming into Strictly I just wanted to have fun and enjoy every single moment and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
“So if we win, amazing, if we don’t win, still amazing. I’ve had the most incredible experience.”
Saturday will also mark Coppola’s second final after he reached the milestone last year with radio host Fleur East in his debut year.
He said of Leach: “She’s my winner since day one and the way she improved and you worked so hard for me, every single week, you have been the winner, my winner…
“I’m sure that all your family or all the people that love you are proud.”
Asked if the online rumours about their dance partnership blossoming into something romantic has distracted them, the Italian dancer said they are too busy to focus on speculation.
He explained: “We are so into the rehearsals all day, we have so many things to think about – hand choreography and lifts up and down, left, right, diagonal…
“We are so focused on all this beautiful experience.”
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final will air live on Saturday at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.