Strictly Come Dancing: Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez will bring a ‘carnival atmosphere’ with their salsa

Helen Skelton has revealed that she is anticipating a “carnival atmosphere” for her performance on tommorow night’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The Countryfile presenter, 39, from Cumbria, and her professional dance partner Gorka Marquez, 32, have been rehearsing the Salsa ahead of Saturday’s live show.

They will be showing off their “party dance” to Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, as they compete against the other eight remaining couples to make it through to week nine.

In a BBC spoiler clip ahead of tomorrow’s episode, Helen said: “The Salsa strikes me as a party dance, a fun dance, big smiles. So it should be a carnival atmosphere, hopefully”.

“It’s fun, it’s full of lifts and tricks. The only thing he said to me coming into this week was ‘are you ready to fly?’”

Gorka, who has professionally danced on six series of the BBC show so far, hopes that his current partner will “have a lot of fun” with the Salsa.

He added: “The Salsa is all about moving the hips, the shoulders. Loads of shimmies and hip action. I think Helen is going to have a lot of fun with this dance”

A Helen and Gorka fan account on Instagram posted a short clip showing the duo practising in a rehearsal hall.

It was captioned: “Their salsa is looking SO good. Cannot wait til Saturday 💃💃💃”

Salsa is a latin dance which first emerged in Cuba during the turn of the 20th century. However, it grew to popularity in the 1960’s in New York City. The dance style is a combination of Cuban dances, such as Mambo, Pachanga and Rumba, as well as American dances such as Swing and Tap.

Salsa has been a regular dance style on Strictly Come Dancing since series four in 2006. Gorka previously scored 40 from the judges after doing the Salsa with singer Alexandra Burke in 2017.

The likes of former cricketer Mark Ramprakash, model Abbey Clancy, Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede, late televison presenter Caroline Flack and The Pussycat Dolls’ Ashley Roberts have also previously scored four 10’s doing the Salsa on Strictly.

Former member of parliment Ann Widdecombe and her professional partner Anton Du Beke - who is now a judge on the show - are recorded to have the lowest score from a Salsa, with just 12.

This series, actor Will Mellor, Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds, BBC cameraman Hamza Yassin, singer Fleur East and football manager Tony Adams have already taken on the Salsa.