Helen Skelton’s Strictly ‘revenge’ dance divides James Jordan and Ola

Strictly: Helen Skelton says her kids were embarrassed by dance

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Strictly star Helen Skelton delivered a powerful routine last week, leading some fans to declare it her “revenge dance” following her split from rugby player Richie Myler, who is believed to be expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. Now co-parenting three children, Helen was nonetheless uncompromisingly glamorous at the weekend, delivering her best moves for the Friday night show.

Yet Ola and James Jordan were undecided on exactly what to make of the performance that had captured everyone’s emotion.

While Ola insisted that the Countryfile presenter had “nailed” it, James exclaimed: “I just don’t think it was worth a 10.”

He added in his Strictly Speaking column for Hello! magazine: “There weren’t a huge amount of technical steps in it.”

Delivering a killer blow to Helen, he added that he didn’t think her routine had been as technical as that of Kym Marsh, who was the 10th contestant to be eliminated on Saturday.

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James’ words might have sounded harsh, but he then stated that the Couples Choice round sometimes gave little room to maneuver more difficult moves.

Meanwhile, Ola praised: “I think there have definitely been points in the competition where Helen was well deserving of four tens and didn’t get them… there have been times when I’ve been stunned she [didn’t get a perfect score].”

She added that she thought “every woman in the country” would have been rooting for her after the difficult time she’d had.

Earlier this year, Helen announced her split from Richie just four months after giving birth to their third child Elsie – and many fans have been hugely supportive.

Her pro dance partner Gorka Marquez has also been on hand with kind words to boost her self-confidence – both onstage and off.

He set the tone early on in the competition by declaring passionately in front of the audience, judges and other dancers: “Everyone believes in you.

“I know you’ve been having a difficult time and… 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.”

He added: “It doesn’t matter how many times I say it, or the judges say it, or anybody says it.

“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.

“An amazing mum and incredible dancer, so believe in you, please!”

Helen, who was dressed in a stunning Spanish style costume at the time, complete with roses in her hair, then responded to his praise by jumping onto the table as a symbol of her new-found self-confidence.

Meanwhile, last week’s dance saw fans compare her outfit to Princess Diana’s so-called “revenge dress”.

It comes just days after Helen reportedly sold sentimental items she shared with Richie Myler while filming Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House.

According to reports, the 39-year-old opted to auction 18 items including an antique vaulting horse, two Art Deco armchairs and a Victorian dentist chair.

According to The Sun, the items made a total of £965.

Following this weekend’s Strictly, Helen admitted that her sizzling cabaret dance had slightly “embarrassed” her children due to its intensity.

However, talking on a more positive note on Monday’s episode of It Takes Two, she added: “My parents absolutely loved it. I mean my mum was in the front row [and] she was just going mad wasn’t she?!”

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