Gorka’s hug for Helen – and even a parking ticket can’t wipe the smile from her face
WHEN TV presenter Helen Skelton signed up for Strictly, she vowed she was there to have a good time.
And judging by her smile, she hasn’t wasted any time enjoying herself – as she appears to have hit it off with her professional partner, Gorka Marquez.
The pair shared an embrace following a training session ahead of last night’s show, five months after Ms Skelton was left heartbroken by the collapse of her eight-year marriage to rugby league player Richie Myler.
She also placed her hand on Marquez’s shoulder before getting into her blue Audi 4x4 outside the dance studio in Cumbria.
And it appeared that the Countryfile presenter, who was wearing a £56 pair of Jack Wills leggings, is enjoying her time on the BBC1 show so much that not even a parking ticket could wipe the smile from her face. She showed no sign of irritation as she removed it from the windscreen before driving home.
Marquez, who lives in Manchester with his wife, the actress and former Strictly contestant Gemma Atkinson, is understood to have been partnered with Ms Skelton, 39, as he is the pro star who lives closest to her Yorkshire home.
Ms Skelton was ‘absolutely devastated’ after Myler left her in April – just six months after she gave birth to their third child, Elsie.
The 32-year-old went on to begin a relationship with Stephanie Thirkill, the daughter of Andrew Thirkill, the president of his team, Leeds Rhinos.
Marquez, also 32, began dating former Emmerdale actress Miss Atkinson after meeting on Strictly in 2017, although they did not dance together.
The pair, who have a three-year-old daughter, Mia, got engaged on Valentine’s Day last year but have yet to set a date for their wedding.