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| I had a cheeky fumble with Matt |
| Written by Administrator | |
| Sunday, 06 January 2008 | |
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STRICTLY Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace has finally confessed how she fell for her TV tango partner, EastEnders pin-up Matt di Angelo. Speaking for the first time after weeks of headlines that only guessed at her feelings, Flavia told the News of the World: "Matt could be my dream man. He's got the lot—he's a sexy dancer, he's got great looks, charisma, a wonderful fun personality...and a great body. I'd rate him 9 out of 10 as a guy. Nobody's perfect! And she confessed she first felt the thrill of the 20-year-old's touch when he cupped her BOOBS as they rehearsed the cha-cha. Flavia, 28, also revealed every detail of her split with 29-year-old live-in lover Vincent Simone, her real-life partner for 10 years and the dancer who partnered Stephanie Beacham on Strictly. "Dancing with Matt made my heart flutter and something clicked inside me," she said. "I know Vincent blames Matt for us breaking up. But it's not Matt's fault. It's my fault for falling out of love with Vincent." Wiggle Breaking down in tears as she told the story that millions of fans—and Strictly presenter Tess Daly—have only speculated about, she sobbed: "I'm so sorry for all the pain it has caused." "But sexual chemistry and having fun is very important when you're dancing. My heart leapt when I first saw Matt was to be my partner. He has beautiful blue eyes, a cute smile and is certainly my type. Half the people in this country would fancy him. "We started our practice sessions with the cha-cha to Tom Jones's Mama Told Me. You have to smile and wiggle your hips. "Matt told me I was a ‘hot Italian' and when I did a split through his legs, he was meant to hold me under my armpits, but his hands ended up on my boobs. Matt screamed, ‘Oh boobs! Whoops. Shouldn't have done that!' "I found it really funny. But for him it was a big deal and I think he was really embarassed. "Then, towards the beginning of the series itself, he sent me 10 red roses with the message: ‘Good luck Mela'. "It's Italian for apple. I'd told him that when I was a baby my mum called me Mela, because she felt my was head small like an apple. After that, Matt always called me Mela or Muffin Head because I ate a lot of muffins. But I was really surprised by the gift of the red roses. It was a really nice gesture—the sort of thing I wasn't getting from Vincent." It was only a year ago that the pair had bought a house together in Surrey. "Vincent and I had discussed getting married," she said. "But he only bought me four bunches of flowers in 10 years. Some birthdays I didn't even get a card from him. And even for Christmas, we would buy a TV for the house as our ‘joint' present. "On stage we had to perform as the perfect sexy couple. But the truth is our love life had fizzled out. A lot of the time when we went to bed we would just go straight to sleep, or he'd leave me in bed and go off and play PlayStation. "I was crying out for love and affection but he didn't read the signals." But with Matt, who plays Albert Square's Deano Wicks, everything was electric. "He has strong arms and there was definitely sexual chemistry between us," she smiled. "I felt sexy dancing with him. I fancied him and knew he fancied me. I started having doubts about my relationship with Vincent and, after two weeks on the show, something clicked in my mind and I thought, ‘Maybe I need a change'. The first thing I did was speak to Vincent." It was a heartbreaking confrontation between the two World Argentine Tango Show Champions. Detailing every second, she recalled: "We were on the couch at home and I told Vincent, ‘I think it's time we had a break'. "He broke down in tears and asked, ‘Why? Is it because of Matt?' Eventually I admitted I liked Matt and he liked me, but nothing would go on during Strictly. "Vincent became incredibly upset and wanted to know what we had been saying to each other. We both started crying. "Then Vincent suddenly told me he wanted to marry me, which was the worst possible time to say that. I went up to bed and he went in the spare room. The next morning we ignored each other. "I told Matt I had split with Vincent and simply said my feelings had changed. He said, ‘I'm sorry to hear that. If you need me I'm there for you. Just give me a call.' "I didn't think it was appropriate to speak to him about it. But two weeks later, while Vincent was out of the house, I packed my pyjamas and toothbrush in an overnight bag and went to my mum's. She knew we had problems but didn't ask too much." Now the issue was dancing with Matt on TV with Vincent in the wings. "That was very hard for both of us," Flavia continued. But my goal was to get to the final and try to win it." In December's final, 12.5 million viewers saw Strictly show host Tess Daly ask Matt and Flavia: "Are you going to continue seeing each other?" Vincent watched from the dancefloor, humiliated. Flavia admitted: "We didn't know what to say. We just shrugged our shoulders and smiled. Tess obviously felt something was going on, but I found it hard to believe she asked that question on TV. I was aware Vincent was watching and that it hurt him. I found it embarassing and painful. Matt said afterwards, ‘That was a bit strange'." Matt and Flavia finished as runners up to Alesha Dixon and Matthew Cutler. "Publicity about our split has been awful," Flavia shuddered. "That's why I've decided to set the record straight. I don't feel guilty because nothing actually happened between me and Matt. I didn't even kiss him. "But Matt and I decided we'd keep in touch after the show. He bought me a red iPod for Christmas and I bought him a leather bracelet. We exchanged the gifts at the final of Strictly because we knew we wouldn't see each other during Christmas. "Vincent didn't buy me anything, and I'm not surprised. I didn't get him anything either. "On Christmas Day I spoke to Matt on the phone. And on New Year's Eve Matt rang me. We can't start dating now because we've got the national Strictly tour and I'm going to be dancing with Matt AND Vincent. "I don't want to do anything to offend Vincent and jeopardise the tour. "Vincent obviously wasn't keen to dance with me to begin with. But he has agreed to do the Argentine Tango with me and accepts that I'll be dancing with Matt." Guilt Speaking earlier this weekend, Matt also admitted his feelings for Flavia. He gushed: "When dancing sometimes we had to look like we wanted to rip each other's clothes off. I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. "I love her little pixie ears, her transfixing smile. And that body. I want Flavia to be my girlfriend and I think she wants to be with me too." Flavia smiled: "It's very gratifying he has said such amazingly nice things. "I think it should be the guy who makes the declaration but I'm not in a position to be quite as outgoing as he has been. But it's true to say I'm very fond of him." Speaking of Vincent—who claims that Flavia has asked to come back and be his wife—she explained: "I didn't ask Vincent to marry me. We were both crying and I felt so guilty seeing him like that I said, ‘If you want to get back together we will'. But we knew it wasn't right, it was just through guilt and sadness. Matt knows my feelings towards him and we'll see if anything develops after the tour." Matt is so besotted with Flavia that he has even admitted he'd "love to get married and have a child one day." Flavia said demurely: "It's too early to judge whether Matt would be a great husband and father. "But I can imagine he would be." Source |
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