Helen Skelton says Gorka Marquez will 'hate her' as she says what he was really like on BBC Strictly
Helen Skelton has joked that Gorka Marquez will 'hate her' as she shared what he is really like behind-the-scenes on Strictly Come Dancing. The presenter made her comments during an appearance on Loose Women on Friday (February) where she reunited with fellow Strictly 2022 alumni Kaye Adams.
Helen, 39, and professional dancer Gorka, 32, made it all the way to the final of the BBC One dance contest in December. The mum-of-three impressed fans of the show as they watched her blossom in the ballroom after attempting to hit the fire exit on week one.
But the pair just missed out on the coveted Glitterball trophy to the show's eventual 2022 winners Hamza and Jowita Przystal with fans flocking to social media at the time to complain Helen and Gorka had been 'robbed' after reprising their simply iconic routine to Mein Herr in Carberet.
And while they may not have clinched the title, Helen, however, is getting her winning moment night after on the Strictly Live tour as she has been a popular choice for audience-goers as they get to choose the winner of each of the arena shows. But Helen is having to do it for both her and Gorka as he's skipped the tour and she's dancing with Kai Widdrington instead.
Appearing on Loose Women, Helen was quizzed by Kaye, Frankie Bridge, Judi Love and Sunetra Sarker, who have all appeared on Strictly themselves, about her time on the show and her new-found confience. When Kaye questioned whether her sexy Strictly routines made her feel "fierce" and "powerful", Helen admitted that she has seen a change in herself.
"It's definitely made me remember who I am," she admitted. "And I think that's one of those wishy washy terms that people say in self help books and like what does it mean? But actually by the end, with the cabaret number, I wasn't thinking 'oh my God I got to do school run tomorrow, I've got to face those school mums what are they gonna think?'
"I was just thinking 'you're never gonna do this again, let's just enjoy and let's just be in it.'" Helen, who announced her split from rugby star husband Richie Myler last April which whom she shares her three children Ernie, Louis and Elsie Kate, added: "I wasn't thinking about what everyone else was thinking."
During her appearance on the ITV lunchtime show, Helen as surprised with a video message from Gorka. "Hello it's me I knew you were on Loose Women today, I was there on Tuesday and I miss you so I just want to send lots of love," he said in the clip filmed backstage at the ITV studio.
"I know you are in the middle of the Strictly tour, you are smashing it, keep dancing, keep doing what you are doing and I can't wait to see you soon," he added before ending the video by blowing her a kiss which she returned. Gushing over her dance partner, Helen then said: "He, and he'll probably hate me for saying this, but outwardly, he's so macho and cool and this that and the other but he's so sensitive in the best possible way."
She added: "He was always second guessing what would be best for me and he is just selfless. All the routines he created were for me, they were all to make me look good. He never once tried to take any of the limelight. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's a good lad."
Sunetra said she thought the Spanish dancer was tough with her in the beginning to which Helen quipped with a smile: "And the end!" But Sunetra continued to recall how she saw him sternly tell her that she had to believe in herself. "He was such a good friend throughout the whole thing because it took me a while to find my stride," Helen said.
"Sometimes, some of your friends can be like, 'this is bad, that's bad' but he didn't give you any time for that. He gave me a kick up the bum in the best possible way." But while she may be dancing with Kai on the Strictly tour, Helen said she feels like she's 'got the pair of them'.
"Gorka phones most days to see how it's going and I'm like, 'Mate, let it go!" she laughed. "But I'm very lucky that I've gfot a great, great friend in Gorka and I've got Kai on the tour. She also said Gorka had gone to watch the show last Saturday night and she was nervous of what he would think. She laughed: "When Gorka came to the show on Saturday night I was so nervous and I was like 'was it alright?!' and he said 'yeah it was good.'"
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