Helen Skelton joined her Strictly professional partner Gorka Marquez and his famous wife Gemma Atkinson at Monday night's Pride of Britain awards.
After a rather fraught start to their time on Strictly,. with Helen running out of rehearsals through a fire exit before they'd even set foot in the BBC ballroom, before being coaxed back in by Gorka, the pair have seen their comments and scores from the judges improve. After a well executed paso doble in week four, Helen and Gorka had a huge reason to celebrate last Saturday night, when they finished joint top of the leader board, being awarded a series high score of 35 out of 40 for their Blue Peter themed Charleston for the BBC 100 special.
Both Helen and Gorka looked delighted by their marks and again when they were called safe by Strictly host Tess Daly during the results show. Helen did take to Instagram in the aftermath of Jayde Adam's exit, to reveal she'd been crying backstage at her friend leaving the competition, while thanking fans for their support.
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Countryfile star Helen and former Strictly finalist Gorka were all smiles as they dressed to the nines to hit the reds carpet in London on Monday night for the Pride of Britain awards, which will be televised on ITV on Thursday night. A number of the Strictly cast were in attendance at the annual event, including fellow contestants Fleur East and Ellie Taylor and pros like Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova and Kai Widdrington.
And, while on the selfie Helen uploaded to her Instagram grid, Gemma could barely been seen in shot, Gorka's other half and the former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star was very much in attendance, as the couple shared some stunning black and white photos of themselves all dressed up for the event on Insta.
Helen's grid post also featured a full length photo of her in her hotel room, wearing a stunning floor length green gown, as well as pictures of her with Fleur and Ellie. She captioned it: " Total privilege to help celebrate some of the countries bravest, brightest and best. Thanks for having us @prideofbritain."
Two weeks ago, Girka gave a very public show of support for Helen after their Strictly performance, telling her: ""It doesn't matter how many times I say it, or the judges say it, it's only you who can make the change and is the one who can believe in you. You are an amazing woman, you're inspirational; an amazing mum and incredible dancer, so believe in yourself please."
Gemma, herself a former Strictly contestant in 2017, was quick to back Gorka online after his speech. Sharing the clip on her Instagram story, she wrote: "Absolutely what he said."
Helen and Gorka are now second favourites to win Strictly 2022, after they leapfrogged Will Mellor and Nancy Xu in the latest odds. Hamza Yasim and pro partner Jowita Prytzl are still the ones to beat in the eyes of the bookies.
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