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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Katie Fitzpatrick

BBC Strictly fans call for Craig to be 'sacked' over Helen Skelton scoring after she breaks down in heartbreaking moment

Helen Skelton broke down in tears in a heartbreaking video clip from rehearsals as she reflected on her Strictly Come Dancing journey with dance partner Gorka Marquez. The former Blue Peter presenter cried as she told pro dancer Gorka: "I definitely am a different person from when we started."

The mum-of-three was emotional as she told how her dad told her "you seemed like you again" after last weekend's energetic quickstep to the Amy Winehouse classic Valerie. "I think even you would say I'm a different person from day one right?" she asked Gorka, who agreed with her.

"I thought it was just dancing it's so much more than that," Helen beamed about her confidence-building time on the BBC dance show following her split from husband Richie Myler.

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The emotional heart-to-heart was shown ahead of their latest samba routine, and Helen's beaming smile was back as they tore up the dancefloor in brightly-coloured costumes. However, disappointment followed as sharp-tongued judge Craig Revel-Horwood took aim at their performance with some harsh comments during Saturday night's live show.

Gorka looked unimpressed when Craig took a swipe at his open shirt, saying the dance was "very rigid, made obvious when you had your shirt open darling." He also described the performance as "very wooden" with "no bounce."

Helen was in tears (BBC)

But he added: "Fantastic personality. You brought that to the floor at least." Viewers were stunned as he went on to award the dance a five out of 10. His fellow judges Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas all gave an eight.

Fans flocked to Twitter to vent their upset. @djdlicious asked: "Craig… 5? Ridiculously underscoring @HelenSkelton and @gorkamarquez1 there."

@MonaghanCalum also exclaimed: "Craig, a 5?!. How rude!" @jorigg40 fumed: "Craig needs sacking! A 5 for Helen and Gorka."

@wendys_waffles9 used the hashtag "#sackcraig" and @stevemarwood1 asked: "How on earth can Craig give @HelenSkelton a five?!! #Strictly She was brilliant again tonight, hope she goes all the way."

@strictlydbuzz_ said: "I get Craig is there as the 'villian' but some of the stuff he comes out with is just so below the belt and uncalled for." And LaCapelle tweeted: "#Strictly I don’t watch often but Craig’s comment to Gorka about his shirt being open was very snide."

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