Helen Skelton addresses having a ‘face like thunder’ while Gorka Marquez was speaking on Strictly

Helen Skelton has responded to claims that she had a “face like thunder” when her professional dance partner spoke about her personal life on Strictly Come Dancing.

The Countryfile presenter, 39, and Gorka Marquez, 32, were being interviewed by Claudia Winkleman after their performance, when the dancer addressed the “rough time” that Helen had been having in recent weeks.

Helen looked visibly awkward during the discussion and was seen pulling an unimpressed expression, whilst Gorka continued to reference the situation surrounding the breakdown of her marriage to Richie Myler, 32.

Wrapping a supportive arm around Helen, Gorka said: “I know you’ve been having a difficult time and I know you may feel like you’re not beautiful or good enough or anything.

“But if you don’t believe in yourself, I believe in you. Everybody here believes in you.”

The Spanish professional dancer continued to praise Helen, saying: “It’s only you who is going to be the one who can make the change and the one who needs to believe in you, because you are an amazing woman, very inspirational.”

Following Gorka’s improvised speech, the audience burst into applause and fans of Strictly took to Twitter to praise his kind words.

Helen and rugby player Richie Myler, who were together for eight years, announced their split in April - just four months after the arrival of their daughter, Elsie.

It was later revealed that Richie has moved onto a new relationship with Stephanie Thirkill, who is the daughter of the multi-millionaire, President of the Leeds Rhinos rugby club. Stephanie is currently pregnant with the couple’s first baby.

Despite the heartbreaking news, Helen has refused to condemn her ex-husband and is instead focusing on the dance floor.

The mother-of-three claims that after her marriage had ended it was the “best” time for her to join Strictly.

She told The Sun that she knows Gorka only has “her best interests at heart and that they need to speak about what is acceptable to say publicly.

Helen said: “I was like, ‘Oh God, where is he going with this?’ That’s why I jumped on the table, to shut him up!”

“He brings me a coffee and a pastry every morning because I’m losing so much weight, training constantly and doing the show.”

She added: “[Gorka] writes on my coffee cup, ‘You’re brilliant, you’ve got this’, because he knows I’d be mortified and embarrassed if he did it to my face.”