Gorka Exits Strictly: Shocking ‘Throuple’ Gossip Leaked!

He’s the clean-cut Spanish heartthrob whose eight years of skillfully steering female celebrities around the dance floor have made him a Strictly Come Dancing stalwart.

Thanks to his self-effacing charm Gorka Marquez, the baby-faced ballroom star, has won himself millions of super fans along the way, not to mention a wife.

Most importantly for bosses of the BBC dance show, the 34-year-old professional has also managed to avoid getting embroiled in any scandals – unlike his co-stars Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, who were accused of bullying their celebrity partners and have left the show.

So when he summoned Strictly chiefs to a meeting to discuss his appearance on the forthcoming series, which begins in two weeks time, they were rightly anxious because it was to deal them the ultimate blow – he wasn’t going to have time to have a celebrity partner this year and was instead off to judge the Spanish version of the programme, Bailando con las Estrellas.

He will now only take part in the professional dance routines, some of which have already been filmed.

Gorka plans to return to Strictly for just the final weeks of the series to perform group numbers and support his fellow professionals and their celebrity partners.

His decision left Strictly with a staffing headache, and they had to quickly find a replacement – they opted for Australian star Julian Gallion – as they found themselves short of men following Giovanni and Graziano’s departures.

As for Gorka, he is said to be relieved and takes the view that the timing of his exit could not be better, with friends of his coming forward to speak of his relief at not being involved in UK Strictly after years of turmoil over its stars’ behaviour, not to mention the allegations of cocaine use and sexual misconduct that are already threatening to cast a shadow over this series – jaw-dropping details of which I’ll reveal later.

‘Gorka loves Strictly and is so proud to be one of the longest-serving pros, but has said he’ll be relieved not to be there during another fraught series while the show and its cast are accused of toxic behaviour,’ said one source close to him.

‘He’s very excited to have been part of the group dances, which were pre-recorded, and loves everyone on the show. But this is the third series where they face questions.

‘He told friends he can’t deny the timing has worked out well and he’s looking forward to spreading his wings on Spanish Strictly.’

Indeed, Gorka, who is married to former Strictly contestant, actress and presenter Gemma Atkinson, after they met while she was competing on the show in 2017, has steered clear of any sagas, including the Strictly ‘curse’, which has seen the break-up of marriages and relationships of those involved in the show.

Still, I hear Gemma, 40, was ‘not exactly against’ Gorka taking a step back from the show, which he competes on while she’s at home with their children Mia, six, and Thiago, two, at the family home in Cheshire.

‘Gemma won’t allow anything like the Strictly curse to happen to their marriage,’ says one Strictly source. ‘She adores Gorka and they have two lovely children together.

‘The curse has split so many families up so the fact Gorka won’t be around what has become a pretty colourful show like Strictly lately would be a relief for any wife.’

There is no suggestion that Gorka has ever cheated on Gemma, the no-nonsense Bury-born actress who catapulted to fame in the noughties as Lisa Hunter in teen soap Hollyoaks.

Instead though, he has been a shoulder to cry on for fellow pro dancer Jowita Przystal, the beautiful Polish star who was rumoured to have enjoyed a romance with her partner, The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks.

She was also linked to EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick who took part in the last series.

‘Gorka and Jowita struck up a lovely friendship last year,’ says a show source. ‘Jowita really did go through the mill, as a single professional dancer she was linked to several men which at times very much overshadowed her role on Strictly.

‘She is also comparatively new to Strictly, which is a hard job to navigate at times but with Gorka having had so much experience on there, he was invaluable to her.

‘There were some unkind whispers that their friendship had the potential to evolve but that was quickly nipped in the bud and there is nothing to suggest that.’

Still, as one star connected to the show, observed of Jowita: ‘She’s beautiful, I’m not sure if I was Gorka’s wife I would like that, even though he is doing absolutely nothing wrong.’

With the new Strictly series, in its 21st year, beginning imminently, bosses are desperately hoping that they can find a way to ensure that there is no trouble this time around. They have attempted to mitigate against this by choosing a celebrity line-up which ‘doesn’t scream trouble’ according to one show insider.

Last March Giovanni was forced off of the show after his partner, the actress Amanda Abbington made a series of allegations about him, including that he bullied her during their partnership in 2023. Following a lengthy investigation by the BBC’s legal department he was cleared of most of them – and all of the most serious ones.

That scandal was then followed by Giovanni’s fellow Sicilian ballroom star Graziano Di Prima who got the boot for, well, booting his celebrity co-star Zara McDermott, kicking her in a fit of rage during training during the same series. He was sacked immediately.

And then last year Wynne Evans, the former face of the Go Compare adverts and host of BBC Wales Breakfast show, left viewers disgusted when they noticed his ‘wandering hand’ on partner Katya Jones’s waist and stomach – which they later insisted was just a private joke between them.

Wynne was then axed by the BBC in May after The Mail on Sunday exclusively called him out for making an abhorrent ‘spit roast’ comment about professional dancer Janette Manrara, at the launch of the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.

Last month there was more bad news for Strictly’s reputation as a family show when the BBC called the police in and launched their own external investigation after Wynne made a claim through his lawyers that he had witnessed a star of the show take cocaine.

Although no arrests have yet been made, the police have confirmed they are investigating allegations of drug abuse. There is also much pressure being heaped on the accused person to be ousted from working on the programme which has angered their friends on the show.

Strictly insiders are blaming Wynne for wanting to ‘ruin’ the show after he was axed by the BBC. My source describes him as a ‘very bitter man’.

Then last weekend it was reported that a Strictly star has been arrested for rape. The suspect, who has not been named, is also being quizzed by police over allegations from a third party of ‘non-consensual intimate image abuse’.

But I have some bad news for those BBC bosses who hope for a squeaky-clean series of their beloved show which still pulls in more than 8 million viewers on a weekly basis.

I hear that there is a ‘throuple’ (a consensual romantic or sexual relationship involving three people), taking place behind the scenes which has angered some of its stars.

The trio, who I can’t name for legal reasons, has raised many eyebrows backstage.

‘It is like the best gossip ever,’ says one source. ‘It all came out during a night out, people were absolutely shocked.

‘These are people who have many friends and many connections to Strictly and while nobody is actually doing anything wrong in the scenario, you can only imagine how it has become the talk of the show.

‘You can’t even begin to think what middle England would make of it while they are watching at home on a Saturday night so it’s best it’s never exposed.’