Helen Skelton breaks down in tears ahead of making her Strictly Come Dancing debut

Helen Skelton revealed she burst into tears before appearing on Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday night.

The presenter, 39, who works with Gorka Marquez, admitted she tried to escape before making her debut on the dance floor during the series’ first live show.

Helen admitted she was relieved to have an emergency exit nearby after remembering having to dance in front of a live audience on a weekly basis.

She showed her nerves while contemplating her first show on Radio 5 Live on Sunday: ‘I cried a little. I’m normally cool, calm and collected,” she told listeners.

“I went on the dance floor and they said, ‘When the audience comes in…’ and I said, ‘Oh crikey, yes, there are people. I thought, ‘There’s a fire door, I can get out of that,’ and I did.

‘Gorka found me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, “Just a minute.” I literally ran. It was like when I was doing Celeb SAS, I was trying to escape that.”

Helen went on to tell listeners that she is already used to the lack of personal space due to having two kids.

She said, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it’s really weird. Personal space? You wave that. There are no boundaries.

“You walk in and they say, ‘Do you want a fake tan?’ Before you know it you’re naked with a lot of people spraying you.’

The Countryfile host kicked off Strict’s first live show of 2022 in style, scoring a whopping 26 points.

The former Blue Peter star took the floor with Gorka Marquez to perform an American Smooth to You Send Me by Aretha Franklin.

And despite her protests that she lacked elegance, Craig was quick to reassure her by saying, “I like the energy and you do have elegance, honey.”

While Anton gushed: ‘Brilliant line, when you do lines it’s beautiful. To own! Own the dance. Just believe in yourself a little more, because when you do, it’s brilliant.’

Shirley also praised the presenter, explaining: “You weren’t too fast, you weren’t too slow. The beginning was divine, the poor were love. Well done.’

Helen took to her Instagram account after the show to share a gushing post about Gorka.

She wrote: ‘Credit where it’s due… this one deserves kudos for not just getting me on the dance floor…. But in the first place.

“Grateful Mr. M. You are a master of your craft and a true friend. To all the families who maintain the fort behind the scenes…. We are grateful.

“I’m pretty sure by the time this is over I’ll owe my parents Christmas in the Caribbean ️”