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Entertainment
Simon Duke

Strictly's Gorka Marquez publicly backs Helen Skelton as he's 'replaced' on live tour'

Gorka Marquez has given a very pubic show of support to Helen Skelton as he prepares to dance with someone else on the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.

Gorka, who'd previously reached the final alongside Alexandra Burke and Helen reached the Strictly final in the run up to Christmas and were many people's pick for winners, with them eventually pipped to the Glitterball by Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal. Given they were one of the most popular couples on the last series, plenty of fans were looking forward to seeing Helen and Gorka recreate some of their amazing performances in arenas across the country.

However, while On the Farm presenter Helen will be very much part of the tour, Gorka won't be involved at all, with Helen instead dancing with Kai Widdrington, who was one half of the first couple to be eliminated from Strictly 2022, before making a triumphant return to the ballroom to win the Christmas special.

READ MORE: Helen Skelton makes Gorka gesture before Strictly 'partner swap'

As she gets set for tour rehearsals, Helen reflected on her Strictly journey in a touching Instagram post on Sunday night, which featured clips of her and Gorka in action in the final. And Helen paid a special tribute to Gorka in the accompanying caption, writing: "there’s about to be a whole lot of strictly tour spam that doesn’t involve @gorka_marquez and I need to mark this chapter with an acknowledgement and appreciation of my wingman."

Strictly fans were left gutted when it was confirmed that Gorka wouldn't be doing the tour but he's given a clear indication he'll be in the audience to see Helen dance with Kai at some point, as he directly responded to her post to write: "Thank you for the memories!. I can’t wait to see you dancing again on tour."

Helen's Instagram post also got plenty of reactions from other Strictly stars, including new champion pro Jowita, who commented: "Love you Helen," and another of the show's pro dancers, Carlos Gu, who replied: "You are a fabulous woman!!"

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