Helen Skelton and Strictly Come Dancing’s Gorka Marquez have praised the people of Penrith for being ‘lovely’.
The duo took to social media as they made their way through the town to get coffee and shared some of their interactions with townsfolk along the way.
In an Instagram video, Gorka playfully calls Penrith his ‘adopted’ home town and said: “I love it here, I feel like I’m on a movie set. Everyone is just so lovely here, I feel like I’m home.”
The duo bumped into several people walking through the town, two of which wished them luck for their upcoming show on Saturday. The stars responded by saying thank you and calling them lovely.
Helen also shared a video of Gorka chatting with a group of locals in a café in the town, which he confirmed was a conversation about the show.
Ahead of the BBC’s official announcement of the song choices and dances for this week, the duo said they will be dancing a jive this Saturday. While they did not confirm what song they would be dancing to, Gorka called it a ‘very good’ choice.
Over the weekend, Helen shared a snap revisiting Karen Radcliffe from Caffeine Rush, a coffee stand in the town centre, after she had a poster made up asking people to vote for the duo.
Talking about the poster on Instagram, Helen said they were grateful for the support and caffeine and she also joked she was related to half the town after bumping into a family member while out with Gorka.
The duo have been training in Penrith for the live shows since the start of their Strictly journey and paid a visit to Keswick’s Alhambra Cinema a few weeks ago.
During the last live show, the couple came away with a score of 32 and judge Motsi Mabuse said the duo were giving her ‘final vibes’. They are currently seventh on the leaderboard.
