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Simon Duke

Strictly's Gorka Marquez admits to 'intense' week as odds slashed on Helen Skelton win

Gorka Marquez has admitted to Strictly Come Dancing fans that he and celeb partner Helen Skelton are having an 'intense' week as the semi final draws ever closer and Helen has been jiggling rehearsals with other TV commitments.

After ex Blue Peter host Helen had a real crisis of confidence in the first few weeks of Strictly's new series, she has become one of the frontrunners to take home this year's Glitterball trophy, having been a regular near the top of the leaderboard and getting a near perfect score of 39 out of 40 on two separate occasions now.

Helen and Gorka' s amazing partnership, their consistent high scores and the fact they've yet to be in the bottom two, has put them right in the mix for Strictly victory, as far as bookies are concerned, with their odds of winning creeping every closer to long time favourite Hamza Yassin all the time.

READ MORE: Giovanni Pernice confirms 'new' Strictly partner after early exit

At the time of writing they were on odds of 11/8 to triumph, with the growing support for them coming as Helen juggled hosting commitments on hit Channel 5 show On The Farm, with learning both a Argentine Tango and waltz for Sunday's semi final. Gorka joined Helen on location for filming this week, to allow them to et some rehearsing in wherever possible, before Helen left On The Farm after Tuesday's show to host on her Strictly training.

And, as they got stuck into their dancing on Wednesday, Gorka offered an update to followers on Instagram, saying that he and Helen had been "very busy," adding: "We have two dances...we have two brains and they're both fried!"

He added that things were "intense," before assuring fans that, while the pressure was mounting, they were still enjoying themselves.

For the second week in succession, Strictly has been ousted from its traditional Saturday night slot due to the world Cup final. While the BBC won't actually screen England v France, with it airing on ITV, they're clearly banking on millions of people watching to watch the crunch quarter final tie.

Who do you want to win Strictly? Let us know in our poll below:

READ NEXT:

*Why was Strictly on Friday? BBC move show from Saturday slot

*Johannes Radebe 'the start' of Strictly quarter final after emotional exit

*Oti Mabuse back on Strictly in new role as fans delighted

*Helen Skelton championed over 'honest' reason for doing Strictly

*Claudia Winkleman causes Strictly 'panic' with semi final announcement

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