Strictly stand-in away having coffee
BY NICOLA METHVEN reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk
STRICTLY Come Dancing spare Gorka Marquez made a mocha-ry of his chance of dancing with Alex Scott – by going to Starbucks.
Bosses wanted to pair the professional with football pundit Alex Scott after her partner Neil Jones was injured before last Saturday’s show.
But Gorka was out, so the job went to Kevin Clifton, who dances with Alex, 35, for the second time tonight.
A show insider said: “It would’ve been Gorka but he’d gone out for coffee and, with 45 minutes to go, it had to be the fastest option.
“Kevin was there, it was a case of grabbing the nearest person, so he got the gig.
“Now it seems unfair to swap partners, so Kevin will dance with Alex for the second time.”
New dad Gorka was last year teamed with Katie Piper and prior to that, reached the final with Alexandra Burke but this year missed out and is currently one of the background dancers.
After Gorka, 29, missed out last week, fans said Kevin should not have been given a second celebrity partner, having already been voted off with Anneka Rice.
One said: “Should be Gorks not King Kev.”
Gorka liked several posts that pointed out he and Graziano di Palma were waiting to step in should any male pro get injured.
Neil, 37, whose marriage to fellow pro dancer Katya ended this summer, injured his calf muscle during training before last Saturday’s show. He
TEAMWORK Alex and Kevin bust ghosts is expected to be fully recovered for next weekend’s show. This week, he has worked closely with Alex and Kevin, choreographing their American Smooth routine. He has also attended all the training sessions in the hope of being able to swoop in at the last moment. Alex and Kevin scored 34 points last weekend for their routine to Ghostbusters last weekend, with Kevin admitting to making a couple of mistakes as he tried to follow the former soccer star’s lead. He joked: “I’ve got to get in the final one way or another, haven’t I? But this is not me, this is about Alex and she is so amazing.”