Gorka Marquez shared a sweet throwback photo to Instagram this week – and it prompted fans to share their excitement about his role on the upcoming series of Strictly.
The pro dancer took to Instagram, where he uploaded a photo of himself enjoying a cup of coffee in a café in the Lake District, which was taken on his birthday last year.
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In the snap, the 30-year-old held a mug in his hands and looked very relaxed as he leaned back against a wood-panelled wall, with a bicycle hanging over his head.
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Gorka captioned the photo: "HAPPY INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY! Throwback to last year's trip in the lakes for my birthday. Doing one of our favourite things, coffee and food."
His post didn't reference the BBC's announcement earlier this week that the pro dancer will have a partner on Strictly for the first time in two years, but his fans couldn't resist taking the opportunity to comment on the news.
"Good luck on Strictly this season," one wrote, while another chimed in: "So happy to see you have a partner this season."
A third added: "Can't wait to see you on Strictly this season! You are one of my faves!"
© Photo: InstagramGorka met his partner Gemma on the set of Strictly in 2017
They went on to tease him that his girlfriend, former contestant Gemma Atkinson, should "give him some pointers!"
Last year, Gorka wasn't assigned a partner on, so only took part in the group dances. On Monday, however, show producer Sarah Jones confirmed that four different dancers wouldn't have partners this year.
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She said: "We have four professional dancers who won’t be partnering celebrities this year. They are Nadia Bychkova, Neil Jones, Graziano Di Prima and Nancy Xu."
The series, which kicks off with its first live episode on 24 October, will have a shorter run in 2020 due to the pandemic and will feature 12 celebrities instead of the usual 15.
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