One of Strictly Come Dancing’s professional dancers had two teeth knocked out in an attack in Blackpool, hours after taking part in the programme’s Saturday night live show broadcast from the seaside town, a report claims.
Gorka Márquez, 26, was walking with fellow dancers Aljaž Škorjanec and Neil Jones to the Flamingo nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning when he came under attack, the Sun reported. He is said to be due to have dental surgery in London on Monday to repair the injuries he suffered.
A source, described as a friend, told the Sun that the “entirely random” attack began when a “group of local louts”, with whom the group had no previous contact, appeared “out of nowhere” and one of them punched Márquez in the face.
Škorjanec, also 26, and 33-year-old Jones are thought to have avoided the fracas, which was not reported to police. “They went straight back to the hotel to see if he needed urgent medical care before going back to London for dental surgery,” the friend added.
Márquez, who is taking part in his first series of Strictly Come Dancing, had been partnered with EastEnders actor Tameka Empson, 39. The pair were eliminated in week three, but Márquez had continued to appear in group routines and in week five, when he stepped in to partner Anastacia, the singer, after Brendan Cole fell ill.
Greg Rutherford became the ninth celebrity to be eliminated from the series on Saturday night, after losing the danceoff alongside the gymnast Claudia Fragapane and her partner, AJ Pritchard. Rutherford, 30, and his partner, Natalie Lowe, had performed a quickstep in the Blackpool special that earned them a score of 32 points.
The remaining six couples will tackle the “Cha Cha Challenge” next weekend, in which they will perform a cha-cha-chá simultaneously in the hope of earning extra points from the judges.
A show spokesman said that Márquez would return for next weekend’s programme. “Gorka was sadly the victim of an unprovoked incident in Blackpool on Saturday night but he will be back in training this week and is looking forward to the group routine next weekend,” he was quoted as saying by the Sun.
