'Only one I could touch' Dan Walker addresses Strictly curse rumours amid backstage 'hug'
DAN WALKER has addressed the Strictly Come Dancing curse after he was spotted hugging partner Nadiya Bychkova backstage.
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BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker addressed rumours of the infamous Strictly Come Dancing curse, after he was reportedly spotted embracing his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychkova ahead of the show last week. The newsreader, 44, explained in a new interview how he was only "allowed to touch one person" in the Strictly cast due to coronavirus rules.
I needed to release emotionally from everything I'd been bottling up in the week
Dan candidly admitted he needed a hug from someone and Nadiya was the only person he was "allowed" to touch due to Covid restrictions.
Ahead of his performance in the quarter-finals, Dan explained how he had become emotional after remembering his friend, the late Gary Speed on the 10th anniversary of his death.
Addressing the embrace, Dan said: "I just needed to give somebody a hug.
"I needed to release emotionally from everything I'd been bottling up in the week."
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Dan explained due to coronavirus rules he could only turn to Nadiya for comfort.
"There was only one person I was allowed to touch in the entire production that night and that was my partner," he said.
The star went on to brand rumours of a romance "disappointing".
"I know these happen every year on Strictly, and there have been instances in the past of the so-called curse, and it's just telly.
"But it's just not nice," he told The Sun.
Dan has been married to his wife Sarah since 2001.
Together they share three children, daughters Susanna and Jessica, and son Chuck.
After making it through to the quarter-finals of the popular BBC dance show, a source told The Sun how the dance duo were seen hugging as Dan sobbed into her shoulder.
The source said: "Dan was in bits because he had watched a re-run of his interview with Gary which took place the day before he died.
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"The two were very close, and it was a haunting, harrowing watch.
They went on: "Dan tried to hold it together, but the emotion of the evening became too much after their dance and he broke down in the dressing room.
“Nadiya consoled him. She was amazing, and basically let him cry it out on her shoulder."
Ahead of his appearance on Strictly, Dan paid an emotional tribute to Gary who he interviewed only the day before he took his own life.
Dan told his 738,800 Twitter followers: "He said: "I remember the day really vividly and I do go over it in my mind quite a bit... The last thing I said to him was, ‘I’ll call you on Monday and we’ll organise a game of golf’. And that’s where we left it.
“The next morning, I remember being sat in church and my phone was going crazy. Phone call after phone call. Text, text, text...
"I just couldn’t fathom what had happened when you think about the day that I had with him the day before.
"Then you just go back over absolutely everything. You can’t help but wonder whether you could have done something.
“The whole of the country were in shock, people were heartbroken."
Dan went on to implore his followers to watch the video and leave comments to help those "struggling".
Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 7.05pm on BBC One.
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