Helen Skelton broke down in tears before her debut performance on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
Helen Skelton broke down in tears before dancing
The 39-year-old TV presenter is partnered with Gorka Marquez on the new series of the BBC show - but Helen has admitted to being overwhelmed by nerves prior to her first dance.
She shared: "I had a little cry. I’m normally cool, calm and collected.
"I got on the dance floor and they said, 'When the audience come in...' and I went, 'Oh crikey, yeah, there’s people.'"
Helen even tried to make a last-minute escape through a nearby fire exit before she was due to dance.
The former 'Blue Peter' presenter also admitted it's not the first time she's tried to run away from her fears during her TV career.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Helen explained: "I was like, 'There’s a fire door, there, I can get out of it,' and I did.
"Gorka found me and said, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'Just having a minute'. I literally ran. It was like when I did 'Celeb SAS', I tried to escape that."
Despite her fears, Helen eventually took to the dancefloor to perform an American Smooth to 'You Send Me' by Aretha Franklin.
The TV star and Gorka earned a respectable score of 26 points out of a possible 40.
Helen subsequently took to social media to heap praise on her dance partner.
She wrote on Instagram: "Credit where it’s due … this one deserves kudos for not only getting me around the dance floor …. But on it in the first place.
"Grateful Mr M. You’re a master at your craft and a belter of a pal. To all the families holding down the fort behind the scenes…. We are grateful.
"Pretty sure I will owe my parents Christmas in the Caribbean by time this is over [heart emoji] (sic)"
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