Gorka Marquez Leaves Strictly: Judging Role in Spain

0:00It's April 30th. Welcome to Entertainment and Celebrity News today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Gorka Marquez, the smooth Spanish dancer whose lit up strictly come dancing for 10 years since joining in 2016, just dropped news that he's stepping away for good. At 35, he's calling it his own choice, hanging up those dance shoes after steering celebs around the floor and winning hearts nationwide. He's shifting gears to judge on the Spanish version, Bilando Cón Las Estrelas, where he already dipped in last year. This comes amid a wave of pro dancers exiting, like Karen Hower, Nadia Bikova, and others, as the show shakes up its lineup. Fans are gutted, with hearts breaking over losing their clean cut faith, but his wife Jimma Ackinson, who he met on the show back in 2017, is breathing easier. The 41-year-old actress has been home in Cheshire, with their kids, seven-year-old Mia, and three-year-old Diago, dodging that infamous strictly.

1:00Curse that's wrecked other relationships. The show's faced rough patches lately, from Grasiano de Prima, getting sacked for kicking partner Zahar McDermott, to probes and to Giovanni Pernice, and drug claims involving win Evans, even a rape arrest probe ended without charges, leaving insiders calling some X-Dars bitter. BBC's wishing Gorka all the best, proud of his run without scandals, but losing him hit hard for a family show trying to rebound. Time will tell if he pops back in a new role down the line.