Helen Skelton broke down in tears in a heartbreaking scenes on Saturday night's Strictly Come Dancing as she reflected on her dance journey. In a VT clip aired before their performance, the former Blue Peter presenter cried as she told pro dancer Gorka Marquez: "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 the previous weekend's energetic quickstep to the Amy Winehouse classic Valerie. "I thought it was just dancing it's so much more than that," Helen beamed about her confidence-building time on the BBC One dance show following her split from husband Richie Myler in April.
Helen, who on Saturday danced the samba with Gorka, opened up further on Wednesday evening as she was joined on the couch by Gorka for a chat on the spin-off show It Takes Two on BBC Two. Host Janette Manrara asked her: "We saw you had an emotional few months in your life. What has Strictly really meant to you?"
READ MORE:
And Helen explained: "I came into this and I underestimated it because I thought 'it's dancing anf nice dresses and interesting people.' But it's weird, it's so much more than that. It makes you ask questions of yourself you don't want to ask."
She continued: "I'm a 39-year-old woman with three kids. You do your job and your relationships and your house and career and all of that and you don't really just challenge yourself and find joy in yourself. So it's been a rollercoaster of emotions I didn't expect."
Helen and Gorka joked that during week the star lacked so much confidence she 'hid.' "If you're not used to it it's a challenge," she said.
On Saturday there was disappointment s sharp-tongued judge Craig Revel-Horwood took aim at their performance with some harsh comments. 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."
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!" And @jorigg40 fumed: "Craig needs sacking! A 5 for Helen and Gorka."
READ NEXT:
