‘Strictly Come Dancing’ pro Gorka Marquez has finally spoken out about reports that he and celebrity contestant Gemma Atkinson have been growing close behind the scenes.
Despite being partnered with Alexandra Burke, Gorka has repeatedly been linked with Gemma since the launch of this year’s series, with reports last week suggesting the two were “together”, and were “the talk of the make-up room” behind the scenes.
But while the two both kept schtum on the rumours at first, Gorka has now set the record straight, and it would appear the two haven’t quite been growing as close as we’ve been led to believe.
“We hang out together and do some workouts and I think she is beautiful,” Gorka told the Daily Star, “but we are just friends.”
An insider previously claimed: “At this point [Gemma] wouldn’t describe [Gorka] as her boyfriend because they haven’t spent enough time together as they’re both focused on rehearsing.
“But they go to the gym together to work out which is really sweet because it’s something they both love to do.”
However, Gorka and Gemma aren’t the only ‘Strictly’ pair who have been forced to shoot down romance rumours.
Over the weekend, contestant Joe McFadden brushed off “ridiculous” claims that he and Mollie King had been flirting up a storm during rehearsals, but did remark that he was “flattered” that anyone “would even entertain the idea”.
Mollie has also dismissed rumours that she and professional partner AJ Pritchard are anything more than friends and colleagues, telling HuffPost UK there was “no truth” in claims their relationship had taken a romantic turn.