Strictly Come Dancing fans puzzled over 'missing' pro dancer during results show

Strictly fans were left unimpressed after the results show on Sunday evening, after they spotted professional dancer Gorka Márquez during Leigh-Anne’s performance, as many fans knew he was working away this year.

The fan favourite, 35, has been part of the BBC dance competition for almost a decade but isn’t part of the 2025 pro line-up due to being a judge on the Spanish version of the show. Although he isn’t competing on the show with a celebrity partner, he had planned to take part in a number of group performances.

Leigh-Anne performed before the results were announced on Sunday evening, wearing a gold dress with tassels as she performed her single Been A Minute. Halfway through her performance, professional dancers joined her on the dancefloor, including Gorka, who wore green trousers with a matching unbuttoned green shirt.

He was joined by Neil Jones, and fans were quick to realise that the performance was pre-recorded. One unimpressed fan took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote: “So Leigh Anne was pre recorded then as Gorka is there and he's not back til late November #Strictly”.

While another said: “Eh? So even the singer is pre recorded on the ‘Sunday Show’ now? #Strictly because we know Gorka is in Spain”.

A third added: “Gorka Marquez, I really miss seeing you with a celebrity #Strictly”, while another penned: “Prerecorded if Gorka is there #Strictly”.

Gorka previously confirmed he wouldn't be paired with a celebrity on this year's series, as he told fans on Instagram before the series started: "I am happy to announce that I will be back for season two of BAILANDO CON LAS ESTRELLAS as a judge from September.

"Due to the filming dates this means that I won’t be competing with a partner this year in Strictly but I will be a part of lots of the group numbers and will be back for final weeks of the show to support the rest of my fellow pros and their celebrities in what is going to be an AMAZING SERIES. As always thank you for all The love and support and remember! Keep dancing!!!"

It follows after the BBC announced a huge change to the results show as the 2025 season kicked off. At the end of the first live show, hosts Claudia and Tess revealed that the power is no longer in Shirley Ballas ' hands.

For the last seven years, head judge Shirley has been responsible for the gruelling decision of choosing which couple in the bottom two should leave if the votes are tied after the dance off.

However, that has been changed, and the power is now going to be shared among all four judges, with a different judge holding the power each week.

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