Gorka Marquez wasn't just relieved that he and Helen Skelton had made it through to another week on Strictly Come Dancing. The Spanish dancer and the Countryfile host were suited and booted on Saturday night as they performed a jive in the ballroom.
Dressed in complementary black and white suits, with added Strictly sparkle, the pair received a score of 37 for their routine to Janelle Monae’s Tightrope. It left them joint-second in the leaderboard, just one point behind Hamza Yassin who topped the scoreboard in sparkling fashion with three perfect 10s across the board.
But Motsi Mabuse again singled Helen out for the final, which is still a few weeks away, and head judge Shirley Ballas told the other competitors that if they're doing a jive, it should be like Helen and Gorka's. And after their high scores and high praise, the dancing couple made it through to week eight in the BBC One dance contest on Sunday night.
And while Gorka and Helen were delighted to be through to another week, Gorka was also happy to see Will Mellor survive the public vote alongside his dance partner Nancy Xu. After being told they were safe, both couples headed up the stairs to chat to Strictly co-host Claudia Winkleman,
It was there it was revealed that Gorka's daughter, Mia, is a big fan of actor Will and is supporting him and Nancy just as much as her 'Papa' and Helen. It comes after Gorka's fiance Gemma Atkinson revealed her daughter is a fan of the former Two Pints of Lager star Will and even named the stuffed elf toy after him.
After showing Mia revealing the name of her new pal to her millions of Instagram followers, the comments must have been coming in as Gemma later filmed another video telling her millions of followers that Will, who is paired with Nancy Xu in the BBC One dance contest, does in fact know about his new, inanimate namesake.
"Some people are asking does the real Will Mellor know that you like him?" Gemma said to her little girl who proceeded to put her hands on her hips. He does know, doesn't he? What did you get yesterday from Will?" the former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actress asked. After initially saying 'the elf', Gemma revealed that Mia actually got a video message from the former Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisp star. When she asked what he did on the video, Mia showed a finger wag motion as if to say 'come here'.
"She likes him when he does this [geaturing a come here motion with her finger] in his dance and so he sent her a video saying, 'Hi Mia,' and does it to he," Gemma explained, seemingly referring to a few weeks ago when Will channeled Patrick Swayze during Strictly's annual Movie Week.
"So I've had to show it her about 46 times," Gemma, 37, then admitted. She also wrote alongside the video about what her parnter and Mia's dad Gorka Marquez thinks about the whole thing. "Will does know and he finds it hilarious [crying laughing emoji]. Gorka, not so much," she typed. "He doesn't want her fancying anyone until she's at least 28."
And once again on Sunday, Gemma filmed the three-year-old's reaction while watching the pre-recorded results show. Mia couldn't hide her delight at seeing both her dad and Will through to another week and appeared all shy why she realised she was being spoken about on the show.
"Now Will, I love this, there is a little person who is voting for you and it is....I don't know how to say this...Gorka's daughter," Claudia said. She then asked: "Has it caused problems in the group?" to which Will replied: "I don't think so. I'm glad she's voting for me, II think it's wonderful bless her. She's only three."
Gorka then said: "It's the only way I can talk to her now. I say 'Hi Mia' and she's like 'Papa, I'm too busy.' Then I say I'm with Will...Will Mellor!" The pro dancer's other half, Gemma Atkinson has revealed that Mia has even named a giant elf soft toy after Will. Following the resilts show, Gorka reshared Gemma's video.
"@willmellor76 Thank goodness we are through," he typed alongside the sweet yet funny clip. "Cos it would be a world of tears at home," he added with a crying laughing emoji. But he was also pleased to get through with Helen after their spectacular performance.
"So thrilled to get through another week," Groka penned alongside images of the pair in their sparkly suits. "Honestly thank you so much to each one of you who voted for us and for your messages of support! We wouldn’t be in the competition without you." He added: "We are going DES-PA-CITO to week 8," after it was revealed they'll be performing to the Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee track.
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