Gorka Marquez has been confirmed to be joining his Strictly Come Dancing colleagues on this year's Professionals tour, having been noticeably absent from the show's live tour earlier this year.
Having made it to his third Strictly final alongside Helen Skelton in December, many fans were full expecting to see the Spanish pro in action with Helen and other stars like 2022 champion Hamza Yassin and fellow finalists Fleur East and Molly Rainford on the tour, which kicked off in Birmingham in the middle of January.
However, while Helen was very much part of the line-up, Gorka wasn't, with the ex Blue Peter host instead partnered by Kai Widdrington, as the tour took them to the likes of Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and London. Gorka revealed he turned down the opportunity to do the Strictly tour, in order to spend some 'important quality time' with daughter Mia and other half Gemma Atkinson, who recently announced she was expecting the couple's second child. He also shot down reports that he was leaving Strictly, telling fans 'don't believe it' after a newspaper article claimed he was ready to walk away from the ballroom.
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He did turn up to watch Helen and Kai in action on the tour in Manchester and also passed on his congratulations when the newly formed double act were confirmed overall winners of the tour, having notched up the most wins at arena up and down the country.
And Gorka is on the line-up for the Strictly Professionals tour, which will delight fans later this year. He will join fellow Strictly final pros Jowita Przystal (who partnered Hamza), Fleur's partner Vito Coppola and Carlos Gu, who performed alongside Molly Rainford.
Other dancers making an appearance on the tour are Dianne Buswell, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk and Nancy Xu.
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