2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Jasmine Allday)
Gorka Marquez has opened up about his judging role on Strictly Come Dancing . He is a professional on the British version of the show, but he has also appeared as a judge on the Spanish version of the programme, Bailando Con Las Estrellas. Fellow professional Kai revealed all about Gorka's judging stint.
As part of It Takes Two, Fleur East crossed over to Kai Widdrington, who was finding out more about the Spanish version of the show with a very familiar face - as Fleur teased there was a "very unfamiliar twist". Kai revealed: "Earlier this year, Spain relaunched Bailando Con Las Estrellas, which translates to Dancing with the Stars. It is hosted by Argentinian model Valeria Mazza and one of Spain's well-known presenters, Jesús Vázquez.
"There are not three, not four, but five judges, including Blanca Li, journalist and writer Boris Izaguire, director of musicals Julia Gomez Cora, Antonia Dell'ate, and the fifth judge, I think you may recognise - it's our very own Gorka Marquez." Kai then sat down to chat with Gorka about his experience on the show. "I absolutely love it, I learned a lot that I can take with me as a professional now and to help the celebrities.
I know what the judges want to see," he revealed before explaining the differences between the UK and Spanish versions. He added, "It's much longer. It's on from 10pm to two in the morning.
Then, when it comes to the couples, we don't know which order we'll dance in, so on the table there's an envelope, and she opens it and says, 'Next one will be.' Then, you have the time of the VT to get ready to dance. Then the other thing is the way they score.
"We give you the scores there, and you have the panels, and on one side is seven, and the other side is six, so sometimes it goes wrong. It's actually good when things like that happen because it makes it feel like it's live and real." Gorka recalled one incident in which he gave one of the celebrities two out of 10, and she walked off-set and refused to be filmed.
However, she did return for the second week of the show. Gorka spoke of how much it meant to him to be on the show. He said: "It was so special to go back to my home country and be part of a show that has given me so much here in this country.
Without Strictly, I wouldn't be who I am, and I wouldn't have my family." Fans were left shocked by Gorka's 'unknown' role, with one writing: "Gorka's a judge in Spain? Why did I not know that? #ItTakesTwo ." *Strictly Come Dancing airs weekdays on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
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