Helen Skelton has shown that she and Gorka Marquez are still firm friends despite missing out on the Strictly Come Dancing trophy. The Countryfile host and Spanish dancer made it all the way to the final of the BBC One dance contest back in December after viewers took Helen to their hearts and saw the TV star blossom with a series of excellent routines.
However, despite their best efforts, the pair emerged without the Strictly 2022 champions title and the coveted sparkling Glitterball trophy to eventual winners Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal which caused an outcry of 'robbed' among fans.
Helen, 39, has since gone on to star in the Strictly Live 2023 tour. She spent the start of the year travelling the country to perform to thousands of fans of the hit show alongside many of her 2022 co-stars. But Gorka didn't make an appearance as Helen performed the 30-plus shows with Kai Widdrington.
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Gorka, who lives in Greater Manchester, left fans gutted when he wasn't included in the tour line-up, however, he did later explain that he likes to scale back his work commitments after starring in the TV dance contest in order to spend some time with his fiancee Gemma Atkinson and their daughter, Mia.
But there have been no hard feelings as Gorka has continued to show his support for Helen by getting behind her new partnership with Kai, cheering them on both on social media and in person when he headed to the Manchester show with Gemma and Mia.
And now, Helen has returned the favour with the mum-of-three taking to Instagram to show her support to Gorka as he hits the road in his own headline show with fellow Strictly star Karen Hauer.
Their next UK tour of Firedance, a passionate dance theatre show, kicks off on Thursday night (February 23) and Helen shared a sweet message to her former dance partner. Sharing a black and white snap of them both on her Instagram Story, the former Blue Peter host wrote: "What a privilege to say I shared more than one dance with @gorka_marquez and more than one gin and tonic with @karenhauer.
"Wishing you the most fun and the loudest crowd... can't wait to see Firedance when am back... Two of the best in the business," she added with a string of heart and dancer emojis. But Helen wasn't the only one showing her support.
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Gemma, who is currently pregnant with her and Gorka's second child, shared the sizzling poster of Gorka and Karen promoting the show and simply wrote: "Opening night," with a string of flame emojis. Strictly stars Janette Manrara, Giovanni Pernice and Nikita Kumzin all also sent their good luck messages to the pair.
Gorka and Karen have already given fans 'goosebumps' after sharing a glimpse into their rehearsals. The professional dancers could be seen performing to an acoustic version of Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's track, Señorita."
@cazsmyth69 said: "Absolutely love watching you two dance, you’re both in such harmony together , it’s just amazing gives me goosebumps. Love this song too." @jot_70 wrote: "I cannot stop watching this - just sensational." @bridgetthemidget53 added: "Stunning! I'll be watching this over and over!!"
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