Strictly’s Kevin Clifton picked as Neil Jones’ replacement because ‘Gorka was getting coffee’

Last weekend, Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton was chosen to stand in for Neil Jones after the pro dancer injured himself during training.

At the time, many fans questioned why Gorka Marquez hadn’t been chosen, and it’s now been claimed it’s because he ‘went to get coffee’.

According to The Mirror, because Neil pulled out with less than an hour before the show went live, they had to grab the first dancer who was available.

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Halloween party anyone? @mikebushellofficial @lubamushtuk #halloween

A post shared by Alex Scott MBE (@alexscott2) on Oct 31, 2019 at 2:01am PDT

An insider reportedly told the publication that this was Kevin, who was voted off in the third week with partner Anneka Rice.

The source said: “It would have been Gorka but he’d gone out for coffee and with 45 minutes to go, it needed to be the fastest option.

“Kevin was there, it was literally a case of grabbing the nearest person so he got the gig.”

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas will judge tonight

Kevin will be stepping in for Neil again on tonight’s show, with the source adding: “Now it seems unfair to swap partners again, so Kevin will dance with Alex for the second time.”

ED! has contacted the BBC for comment.

Gorka, who missed out on a celebrity partner this year, made no secret of the fact he was disappointed he didn’t get picked to dance with Alex.

While last week’s show was on, he retweeted a series of messages from Strictly fans who said he would have made a perfect replacement.

One read: “@gorkamarquez1 Such a shame you couldn’t help out Alex tonight! Loved seeing you in @HeresTheBoys at Hull.”

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Unbelievable performance frim @alexscott2 last. @mr_njonesofficial and myself were so proud of her. At the last minute her partner gets an injury. Has to pass the routine on to another professional in about 45mins. Then even when i made a mistake she carried on and got me through the routine. Talk about calm under pressure. Just shows how difficult it is to get to a performance on a Saturday that comes together. It also shows how far @alexscott2 has come in 6 weeks and what fantastic work @mr_njonesofficial has been doing. They both deserve so much love. Hopefully you’ll be back on your feet Neill. I want to see you 2 do that routine together in the final! ♥️

A post shared by Kevin Clifton (@keviclifton) on Oct 27, 2019 at 3:39am PDT

Read more: Strictly’s Kelvin Fletcher taking sickness tablets to cope with rehearsals

A second retweet said: “Should have been Gorks, not King Kev.”

And a third put: “For real @gorkamarquez1 would have been PERFECT to dance with Alex tonight since Neil couldn’t due to injury! Safe to say, Gorka deserves a lot of appreciation!”

A fourth wrote: “Really missing @gorkamarquez1 having a partner on this year’s Strictly. Also, surely if someone is injured he should be the stand-in? Not someone who has already had a partner and been voted out?”

ED has reached out to Strictly for comment.

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