Strictly star Helen Skelton shares moment she made Gorka Marquez cry

Former Blue Peter and Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton has opened up on the emotional moment her Strictly Come Dancing partner Gorka Marquez was brought to tears by her words

Helen Skelton of Strictly Come Dancing fame opened up on a recent episode of the Off Menu podcast about how her book, 'In My Stride', moved her dance partner Gorka Marquez. While discussing her autobiography with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Skelton shared: "For me the biggest test when Gorka, who was my Strictly partner, when he read it and he was like, 'oh yeah, I cried in a good way. Like I was really happy with how you shared the story'. And I think for me, it was just a crazy, full on wonderful time."

Helen also reflected on her Strictly experience, noting the immense pressure and attention it attracts: "Even as someone who's been in telly my whole adult life, I totally underestimated the eyes and the expectations and the perceptions that are put on Strictly."

She spoke candidly about the surreal feeling of performing: "You walk out onto a dancefloor, bearing in mind you're wearing a massive hair piece that's not yours, and all of that is designed to make you feel amazing and a costume that's designed to make you feel amazing."

Despite the glamour, she admitted to feeling out of place: "But if it's not yours, you're still a bit like 'oh my gosh, what is happening to me? Am I alright about this? ' Whilst also having to keep in your head a whole dance routine as well."

Helen proudly made it to the Blackpool show in week eight of the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing.

She shared, "I was glad that I got the chance to stay in as long. I didn't mind what people thought about me because I was in it and the longer I was in it, the more I enjoyed it and found my feet. And so I didn't really mind what people were saying."

Helen recently confessed she's actually quite happy that one of the pros got the chop from the main Strictly dance troop this series.

On Morning Live with Gethin Jones earlier on Monday, September 16, they had a chat with dance maestro Kai Widdrington. Helen, the adored telly host at 41, sat opposite the BBC stalwart, 29, who discussed the latest series debut.

The Southampton-born dancing champ missed out on a prime slot in this year's line-up when ex-dancer Aljaz Skorjanec spun back for the 20th anniversary bash. Sharing the spotlight returns include Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell, Michelle Tsiakkas, Johannes Radebe, and others like Luba Mushtuk, Karen Hauer, Jowita Przystal, and not forgetting Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Vito Coppola, Nancy Xu.

Though he won't be pairing up with a celeb this season, Kai's snagged himself a brand new role off the prestigious dance floor.

In the show's opening act, Helen spilled the beans on Kai's fresh role on their BBC morning programme, enthusing: "As we mentioned, it's the return of the Glitterball! "

Kai was welcomed by the hosts, who said: "Kai, we said this is your first time with us, I can say this, we're friends. We saw you've not got a partner but we're glad because it means you can hang out with us all week."

Kai responded: "I'm here, you've got me all week. I'm here all week Monday to Friday doing Strictly fitness and yeah, it's my first time, I can't wait! ".

This follows the dancer expressing his disappointment at not being paired with a celebrity this year, and instead only participating in the weekly group dances.