Helen Skelton has been pictured in rehearsals for the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing tour, but in a photo that will leave many fans gutted, Gooka Marquez was nowhere to be seen as she was joined by new partner Kai Widdrington to 'put the world to rights.'
Preparations are now underway for this year's tour, ahead of it kicking off in Birmingham on January 20, with various celebs and pro dancers now sharing behind the scenes shots and footage on their Instagram accounts. The line-up for the Strictly arena tour was confirmed in full before Christmas, with new champions Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal at the top of the list.
In fact, all the finalists from 2022 will be performing up and down the country on the month long nationwide jaunt, with Fleur East and Vito Coppola and Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu also now reunited and back in training, with just over a week to go until curtain up in Birmingham.
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Completing the full set of recent finalists is former Blue Peter presenter Helen but, she will be without popular pro and her biggest cheerleader, Gorka, as he will play no part in the tour. The news that he wouldn't be on the tour left many fans gutted, but, while Helen and others will be playing to paxked out arenas all over the UK, Gorka will be preparing for another show entirely, as he gets set to hit the road with fellow Strictly pro Karen Hauer on their Firdance tour, which begins on February 23.
After seeing his first ever celebrity partner last year, AJ Odudu, not recover from injury in time to do the tour last year, with her being replaced by 2020 finalist Masie Smith, Strictly pro Kai has been called into replace Gorka and dance with Helen on tour.
Although many fans were upset they wouldn't get to see Helen and Giorka's amazing partnership in the flesh, many others said they were excited to see Helen and Kai team up, with one joking on Instagram: "First Gorka and now Kai, Helen's a lucky girl!"
Both Helen and Kai have now joined Strictly tour rehearsals and were snapped for the first time together in a photo On The Farm star Helen uploaded to her Instagram story. She and Kai were joined by Molly and Carlos in the photo, as Helen declared that they were 'putting the world to rights.'
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