Gorka Marquezs Exit: Marriage and Relationship Rumors Explored

For a decade he has left fans swooning as he skilfully steered female celebrities around the dancefloor.

And so when the clean-cut Spanish ballroom star, , announced on Tuesday he would be leaving the flagship show for good, hearts could be heard breaking across the country.

The 35-year-old, who joined in 2016, is the latest in a troupe of professional dancers to leave the show following a cast overhaul. Departures include popular dancers: Karent Hauer, , and Michelle Tsiakkas.

Some have made their feelings known. But in his departing statement, Gorka was keen to impress on his Strictly superfans that it was his own decision to quit the show.

He wrote: ‘I’ve decided that now is the time to hang up my dance shoes and say goodbye to Strictly Come Dancing.

He told fans he will always be incredibly grateful to the programme and the BBC ‘for everything’.

‘Being part of the show has been so much more than just a professional opportunity – over the past 10 years, it allowed me to build a career from my passion, find love, start a family, and make lifelong friends. For that, I will forever be thankful.’

The former professional said he will enjoy being part of the Strictly family as a judge on the Spanish version - watching from the sidelines.

‘Now it’s time to take a step back, enjoy the sidelines... and hopefully hold up a few paddles and give out some tens along the way,’ he said.

For his female fans it’s a devastating blow but there is one woman much closer to home who will no doubt be grateful that he will not be returning to the Strictly dancefloor anytime soon.

His wife of six years, Gemma Atkinson, 41, who he met while she was competing on the show in 2017, is ‘not exactly against’ the move, I am told.

The actress and presenter has watched him compete on prime time television for eight years while she’s stayed home in Cheshire with their children Mia, seven, and Thiago, three.

And it has been a relief for Gemma that Gorka hasn’t fallen under the Strictly ‘curse’, which has seen the break up several of marriages and relationships of both dancers and celebrities involved on the show.

‘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 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.

He has, though, been a shoulder to cry on for fellow pro-dancer Jowita Przystał, the beautiful Polish star who was rumoured to have enjoyed a romance with her partner in 2024, The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks.

‘Gorka and Jowita struck up a lovely friendship,’ 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 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.’

Last year, the dancer reduced his hours on the show as he opted to appear on the judging panel of the Spanish version of Strictly and he will continue in that role. He did return for the final weeks of the last UK series to perform group numbers.

‘Gorka is looking for a role with more longevity,’ one well-placed Strictly source tells me, ‘He thoroughly enjoyed his time on Bailando con las Estrellas and wants to focus on that for the time being.

‘Judging is the obvious step forward for him and, who knows, he might return to the UK version under a very different role.’

Announcing the former professional’s departure, a BBC statement read: ‘We are incredibly grateful for his dedication to the series over the years and are so proud to see him shining in his judging role on Bailando con las Estrellas in Spain.

‘We wish him continued success and happiness in everything that’s to come.’

Gorka’s departure is the latest blow for the BBC who are no doubt reeling after losing a fan favourite - and especially one who has managed to avoid getting embroiled in any scandals, unlike his co-stars, pro dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima.

In March 2024, Giovanni was forced off of the show after his partner, the actress Amanda Abbington, made 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 kicking his celebrity co-star, Zara McDermott, in a fit of rage during training during the same series. He was sacked immediately.

And then the following 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 the pair later insisted was just a private joke between them.

Wynne left in May last year 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.

More bad news for Strictly followed, further damaging its 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.