Strictly Come Dancing professional dance star Gorka Marquez has shared with fans details on why he decided not to take part in this year’s arena tour.
The Spaniard reached the 2022 final of the show alongside Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton, yet the pair lost out to Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal.
Gorka took to Instagram to reply to fans asking why he would be absent from the show, after it was announced Helen would be dancing alongside Kai Widdrington during the live shows.
He explained: “After the Strictly series I always like to take some down time to spend quality time with Gem and Mia.
“I am grateful for the work but I also think spend time with family is important. Time flies and we wont' get those memories back,” alongside a love heart emoji.
In a follow-up post he shared a selfie of him and Helen, urging his followers to snap up tickets to the arena tour.
This comes after pro Gorka, 32, made it to the Strictly final for a third time, only to lose out at the last hurdle.
Eagle-eyed fans believed the experience might be becoming hard for the professional dancer to bear, after they spotted his reaction to losing out at the end of 2022.
In one of the closest finals to date, fans and dancers alike eagerly awaited for the latest winner of the Glitterball to be called by Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.
With pressure mounting in the studio, wildlife cameraman Hamza and professional dancer Jowita broke down in tears as they were victorious.
But while most contestants appeared cheerful at the result, Spanish star Gorka looked less than impressed and was spotted stone-faced when the camera panned onto him.
Fans of the show quickly took to social media to share their thoughts of his reaction, with one Twitter user questioning: "Was Gorka gutted or livid?"
Another penned: "ooh Gorka looks fuming here," while a third added: "Fleur and Vito so humble and happy for the winners. Gorka looks fuming."
Many fans believed he was right to look so upset and claimed he was "robbed" yet again. One user said: "Gorka is fuming and rightly so! Helen has won in so many ways. Good on her and she is my winner!"
Another agreed and slammed the final result, saying: "Nah that was fully the wrong call. Don’t get me wrong I loved Hamza throughout the series, but he wasn’t the best on the night so didn’t deserve the win! Poor Gorka’s wee face - Helen was robbed!"
