Gorka Marquez reveals life-changing impact Strictly had on him amid BBC scandal

Strictly Come Dancing's Gorka Márquez spoke about the positive impact of his role on his life, after having met his partner Gemma Atkinson when she was a contestant on it

Gorka Márquez has spoken about a positive aspect of Strictly Come Dancing amid the ongoing scandal that has surrounded the long-running BBC show for several months.

Strictly has faced controversy over claims about what it's apparently been like behind-the-scenes and an apparent internal investigation is believed to be drawing to a close. Earlier this month, the BBC even announced "additional steps to strengthen welfare and support" moving forward, like a production member being present for training room rehearsals "at all times" and new welfare support roles.

The scandal includes Amanda Abbington, 50, having made allegations of "bullying" and "aggressive behaviour" against her former dance partner Giovanni Pernice, 33, who she was paired up with last year - though he's denied "abusive or threatening behaviour". Additionally, Graziano Di Prima, 30, said he "deeply regret[s] the events" that led to his own departure and a spokesperson for him has suggested that he apologised at the time for "kicking" his partner Zara McDermott, 27, whom he competed with last year, during rehearsals.

Although negative comments from past participants have resurfaced amid the scandal, others have instead said that they had a positive experience on the show. Gorka, 33 - who's been a dancer on Strictly since 2016 - suggested that the show has "changed" his life for the better recently.

The professional dancer met his partner Gemma Atkinson, now 39, through Strictly, with her having competed on it in 2017, though she was partnered with Aljaž Škorjanec, now 34. Gorka and Gemma, who were on the subsequent tour, went on to develop a romance and now have two children together. The couple are parents to Mia, five, and Thiago, one.

Gorka - who has been announced as part of the line-up for the next series of Strictly - is said to have praised the "best show on earth" for helping him build a family, in an interview with the Daily Star. He said: "Strictly has changed my life, if you look back and go back nine years ago, I came here to the UK for the first time to do Strictly, after never been here before, and now look at me now! I have a family, a partner, two children all because of Strictly."

The professional dancer - who spoke to the outlet whilst promoting his new Speakeasy tour with his Strictly colleague Karen Hauer - added: "The romance between [myself and Gemma] didn't start until we did the tour, as on the show we only used to hang out first as a group and in rehearsals."

He further commented: "But then we were on tour after the Strictly, we had more time and would say 'let's go for a coffee' or 'I'm going to the gym, can I come with you?' So then we ended up spending a lot of time together, we were like travelling every day to different cities. We used to spend a lot of time together and that's how everything happened."

The BBC said in a recent statement, issued following former contestant Amanda's Channel 4 News interview: "Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentiality and fair process and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further on individuals. However, when issues are raised with us we always take them extremely seriously and have appropriate processes in place to manage this. As we have said before, we would urge people not to indulge in speculation.

"More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously. Our processes on Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year, they are kept under constant review and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show."

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