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Alex Evans

Strictly's Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez dealt huge blow for final as former star returns

Strictly Come Dancing star Helen Skelton and pro dancing partner Gorka Marquez have been dealt a blow ahead of the final after a former Strictly star returned to the show.

Richie Anderson, who was eliminated from the contest earlier in the BBC series, returned to Strictly on spin off It Takes Two on Thursday night.

He joined Janette Manrara to analyse each of the couples who have made it to the final and it was bad news for Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez, who were bottom of the overall scores for the series.

Read More: Strictly's Fleur East responds as fans spot reason she shouldn't be in final

Helen and Gorka were also placed third for the number of 10s given out this series, with 9 10s, while Molly and Carlos also managed just 7 10s, putting them in last place for top scores.

The overall series scores for Strictly Come Dancing 2022's finalists (BBC)

Richie added: "You have to call Molly the queen of Latin." It was revealed her Latin average was the highest among the finalists with 35.4. Bad news again for Helen and Gorka, who could only manage 30.5 overall, putting them in last place.

Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez on Strictly on Sunday (BBC)

Fleur and Vito have been 'in the dance off a lot' but since week 8, the pair have scored the most points from the judges, with 226 overall.

Again, Helen and Gorka were bottom of that stat with just 211.

On the speciality dance averages, Hamza and Jowita were top with 38.25 and again, Helen and Skelton were bottom with 33.8 average.

The overall scores since week 8 (BBC)

Richie then told Janette Manrara that Helen Skelton's best stat is that she's the most improved, with the largest increase from week one to week 12.

Richie then addressed Helen and Gorka's performance as he tried to find a silver lining: "She had two 39s, for the couple's choice and the quickstep, but she's like a jack in the box. She went from 26 to 39 and that shows resilience.

Richie Anderson picked Fleur East to win (BBC)

"I know what it's like when you haven't got the scores you want from the judges, you have to go back on the saddle and she's grafted away and there she is and she's gonna be doing the jive again this weekend."

Of course, the stars only mean so much and the bookies still have Helen and Gorka down as second favourites behind Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal.

If you cannot see the poll below, click here

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC1 on Saturday, December 17 at 7.15pm for the live final.

Strictly It Takes Two returns for the final time on Friday, December 16 on BBC2.

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