Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Márquez has spoken out after speculation that he is leaving the popular BBC show.
Gorka joined Strictly in 2016 and reached this year's final with Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton. The Sun recently reported that the 32-year-old was planning to quit Strictly after narrowly missing out on winning the glitterball trophy for the third time.
The Spanish dancer has finished as a runner-up in 2017 with singer Alexandra Burke and in 2020 with actress Maisie Smith as well. Fiancée and actress Gemma Atkinson has already dismissed claims Gorka got the infamous "seven year itch" and took to Instagram to put fans' minds at ease, the Mirror reports.
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Posting a newspaper article about his supposed Strictly exit, she said: "Keep being sent this. Wish I hadn’t said to all backstage crew 'see you next year' now.
"Obvs this isn’t true at all! Same as it wasn’t true about Gio last year. Merry Christmas."
Now Gorka himself has denied the rumours, replying to one fan who said they couldn't believe he had "left Strictly". He replied: "Don’t believe it" with a winking emoji.
A source previously told the Sun: "He looked so devastated last week [December 17] because he knew the final might be his last chance of taking home the glitterball, which had eluded him twice before."
"Gorka has become an established figure in the contest and a name in his own right, which could allow him to go on to bigger things. There’s no suggestion of any bad feeling between him and the BBC."
They added: "It remains to be seen if producers will now offer him a deal enticing enough to sign up for next year's show."
It comes after Gorka teased that he would be returning for Strictly Come Dancing 2023. In a social media post, he reflected on the past series and wrote at the end: "Strictly 23 let's go! In the mean time, keep dancing".
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