Gorka Marquez has finally addressed missing out on the Glitterball trophy last year as he gears up for a return to Strictly Come Dancing. Fans cried that the Spanish dancer had been 'robbed' following the final of the BBC One dance contest at the end of last year.
Gorka had made it all the way t the final of the 2021 run alongside Helen Skelton who own the hearts of viewers as they watched her grow in confidence as the weeks went by with her pulling off her sassy, sexy and more emotional routines. But it wasn't meant to be with the title going to Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal and viewers claimed they spotted Gorka looking 'gutted'.
It was later reported that the 32-year-old was planning on quitting the show, on which he met his now-fiancee Gemma Atkinson, and Gorka quietly denied the rumours. He has since been confirmed among the string of professional dancers returning for the 2023 series, leaving fans thrilled.
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Also confirmed to return o the ballroom this autumn are Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas and Vita Coppola.
And speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, Gorka shared his joy at being asked back for another year. "I am super excited [to be back]," he told us. "I am very grateful that I get another opportunity to be back on Strictly. It's the best TV show on telly and for us dancers, to get the opportunity to be part of such an important show, it gives us the opportunity to showcase what we do and to do what we love as a job, I'm very grateful for it.
"I'm very excited. And time flies. I was just saying the other day that I joined Striclyl in 2016 and it's already been eight years and to me, it feels like last year was the first year. It's amazing and I am very grateful."
But asked if it was hard missing out on the Glitterball with Helen last year, Gorka said: "Obviously, when you're in the final everyone wants to win and yeah, she had a chance to win it but at the end, I'm very proud of what we achieved and lift the trophy or not, I felt like we won because it was our journey, not just the trophy.
"Of course, it would have been the cherry on the top but I won a friend forever and just seeing how much she grew and how much her confidence grew throughout the weeks.... and even the numbers we did. We did some iconic numbers and it was an amazing experience for us. I really enjoyed dancing with Helena and what we did was amazing."
"Hamaza and Jowita won the show and they have an incredible series. Both of them were brilliant and it was down to the public so the public chose and whoever won it was going to be right winner because all the couples all in the final were incredible."
And talking more about his friendship with Helen, Gorka said: "We speak often. When we're around we grab a coffee and she came to watch Firedance [Gorka's tour with Strictly co-star Karen Hauer] with her kids when we were in Manchester.
"We were talking like when I finish the pro tour, [we'll] go up to the Lakes and spend a day altogether. Her kids know Mia [Gorka's three-year-old daughter with Gemma] and they all hang out together and it's so cute to be honest, seeing them together. So it's nice."
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