Strictly Come Dancing favourite Helen Skelton 'walked out' of rehearsal in tears due to nerves

Former Blue Peter presenter Helen, who lives in Leeds, thanked her dance partner and “belter of a pal” Gorka Márquez on instagram “for not only getting me around the dance floor – but on it in the first place.”

While 39-year-old Helen wowed judges on the dancefloor scoring 26 points out of 40 for their American Smooth, just hours earlier she is reported to have fled out of a studio fire door in tears after nerves got the better of her.

Professional dance partner Gorka said on the show: "She just needs to believe in herself. I know her confidence at the moment is not great but I believe in her."

Helen added: "I kept trying to leave."

The single mother-of-three married England national rugby league team player Richie Myler, who plays scrum-half and fullback for the Leeds Rhinos, in 2013. The couple announced that they were no longer together on Instagram earlier this year.

Helen, who regularly presents BBC’s Countryfile and Channel 5’s This Week on the Farm, is known for her outdoor pursuits spent the summer “making the most of Yorkshire” with her three young children.

She joked that she was on the show for the fake tan and to spend an hour in make-up as she is normally sporting a mum bun and wearing clothes which don’t need ironing.

Helen, whose parents support her with childcare, said: "I’m pretty sure I will owe my parents Christmas in the Caribbean by time this is over.”

In her VT (video tape) on the first live show you can see Helen walking through Leeds’ Roundhay park.

The star was the last person to be announced on the Strictly Come Dancing line-up.