Strictly Come Dancing professional Gorka Marquez has addressed comments about his reaction to the result of this year’s finale.
At the climax of Saturday’s live final, some viewers noticed that Gorka – who had made it to the final four couples with presenter Helen Skelton – had a rather less animated response to Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal lifting the Glitterball trophy than some of the other stars present.
Responding to the accusations about his losing face during an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live (via Digital Spy), the Spanish dancer said: “I wasn’t fuming but I wanted Helen to finish the season with the cherry on top. But I was very happy for Hamza and Jowita – they’ve been amazing.”
He continued: “Whoever won, it was amazing because the three couples have been incredible, but we care and we love our job.”
Helen also said she and Gorka were “obviously delighted” for Hamza and praised the CBBC star’s “amazing dances through the season”.
She continued: “But you could tell how gutted we were.
“Gorka has had all my stress, all my nerves. Week one, I hid on the fire escape saying I didn’t want to do it and now we got two standing ovations – that’s our trophy, mate.”
During an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, Helen also added: “The thing is, what I love about Gorka and our friendship is, we’re so honest. It’s written all over our faces…
“If his face had said anything other than, ‘I’m disappointed,’ it would have been a disservice. Bless him, he wanted to win it.”
Saturday’s Strictly final saw Hamza crowned the show’s 20th winner, beating Helen and fellow finalists Fleur East and Molly Rainford.