Helen Skelton has kicked off a new chapter in her Strictly Come Dancing journey, without pro partner Gorka Marquez, as she gets stuck into rehearsals for the show's live tour.
While it's still been less than a month since the Strictly final, many stars from the most recent series are now back in the training room, getting ready for the tour to start on January 20. The line-up for the tour was announced in the run up to Christmas and while Helen is on it, along with new champions Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal and other couples like Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin and Will Mellor and Nancy Xu, Gorka will play no part at all.
Having believed that he and Helen deserved to win, many Strictly fans were very much looking forward to seeing the couple recreate some of their memorable performances, particularly their Couple's Choice, on tour. So it came as a shock and a big surprise that Gorka isn;t doing the tour, with Helen instead dancing with Kai Widdrington.
A day after co-stars like Fleur East and Tyler West were seen in rehearsals, Helen was seen alongside the likes of pros Dianne Buswell and Amy Dowden and fellow finalist Molly Rainford, in a funny video uploaded to Instagram by Tyler, which Helen then shared on her own story.
Fans were quick to react to the news that Gorka wouldn't be on the Strictly tour, when the line-up was made official on the tour's Instagram account. One immediately responded: "Helen and Kai will feel strange," with another commenting: "Awww gutted about Gorka."
Earlier this week, Gorka gave a clear indication he planned to go and watch Helen on tour, writing: "I can’t wait to see you dancing again on tour," underneath a video she shared of them in the Strictly final.
*Lorraine Kelly returns to host her ITV show after operation
*Ruth Langsford breaks news of Eamonn's nasty fall and family tragedy
*James Jordan defends 'thinner' comment about wife Ola's weight after backlash
*Giovanni Pernice recruits Strictly co-star for his own tour
