Alexandra Burke quashes rumours of bust-up with Strictly partner Gorka: 'I've never had a connection like this'
Could this be the start of a different kind of rumour?
Alexandra Burke has quashed rumours of a backstage bust-up with her Strictly Come Dancing partner Gorka Marquez, saying the pair share an intense connection and even miss one another when they're apart, despite spending 60 hours a week together.
"There have been stories in the newspapers that we’ve fallen out, which are just ridiculous," says Burke in her Strictly column in the new issue of Radio Times magazine.
"We are such close friends, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had a connection with someone like this before.
"I spend most of my time with him – pretty much ten hours a day, six days a week[...] And even when we're not in the rehearsal room together, we're constantly in touch. Last Sunday, on our one day off, he messaged me to say he missed me, so we FaceTimed and chatted while he watched me do my hair." Burke says they have even agreed to meet up for gym sessions.
So after all that time spent together, are the pair in danger of starting a different kind of rumour?
"I do get the whole Strictly curse thing, because you're so close to somebody and you have to have such a strong connection on the dance floor," says Burke. "But Gorka and I really are just very good friends."
Read Alexandra's full Strictly column in the new issue of Radio Times magazine, on sale from Tuesday in newsagents and via iTunes and Google Play
