‘I always went for bad boys. Gorka has opened my eyes to what life is about’, Gemma Atkinson on giving ‘nice lad’ chance | 8L51023 | 2024-05-01 20:08:01
'I always went for bad boys. Gorka has opened my eyes to what life is about', Gemma Atkinson on giving 'nice lad' chance | 8L51023 | 2024-05-01 20:08:01
FOR years, Gemma Atkinson thought her "type" was exactly like John Rambo.
Mean, moody and with muscles so eye-popping, they should probably have their own postcode.
So, when she realised she was falling for Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Márquez – who couldn't be less like the character made famous by Sylvester Stallone – no one was more surprised than Gemma.
"If someone had said: 'OK, he's Spanish, a dancer and wears sparkles on a weekend,' I would have gone: 'Oh no, clearly he's not for me,'" she laughs.
Six years, an engagement and two children later, it's safe to say that Gemma's changed her mind.
Meeting Gorka, 33, was a penny-drop moment. The more she got to know him, the more she realised why she'd been left so heartbroken in the past.
"That's where I'd been going wrong – I was always going for the bad boys. As soon as you give a nice lad a chance, you realise you don't have to be constantly wondering where you stand. Gorka opened my eyes to what a relationship should be like."
She adds: "I mean, I'm still obsessed with John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. Rambo still looks good to me! But I'm past that stage of life where I like the bad boy."
'I'm not bothered about the Strictly Curse at all'
However, reports recently suggested they've been feeling the strain of the frequent spells of separation created by Gorka's work, with sources saying Gemma, 39, was effectively caring for Mia, four, and six-month-old Thiago on her own.
As well as Gorka's Strictly commitments, which regularly take him away from the family home in Greater Manchester, there are the nationwide tours with Karen Hauer for their Firedance show.
Plus, he's currently enjoying a new role as a judge on the Spanish version of Strictly, called Bailando Con Las Estrellas.
It means he's away filming in Spain every weekend – cue rumours of a "rough patch" caused by time apart.
However, Gemma says it's something they've both grown used to and – whisper it – there are aspects to being away from each other that she rather enjoys.
"If I'm with someone 24/7, I get really bored of them and they do my head in.
"Even looking at the back of their head can annoy me! I love my own space, and whenever he's on Strictly, I see it as my time on my own with Mia and Thiago. Mia sleeps in my bed and it's so nice.
"Some women message me and say: 'How do you cope? He's never there!' I mean, come on. There are army wives who don't see their partners for months, so a couple of weeks here and there is nothing.
"He flies out on the Friday and his flight home on Sunday lands at 10am. So, compared to Strictly, it's actually very easy.
"And it's bizarre how you can feel so connected, even though you're physically apart. It's six years now, but I still miss him when he's away and we still have things to talk about when we're together."
Of course, much of Gorka's time away is spent in the arms of various female dance partners.
He's been partnered on Strictly with Maisie Smith, Helen Skelton and, most recently, Nikita Kanda – they were the second couple to be eliminated in 2023. But the so-called Strictly Curse isn't something that keeps Gemma awake at night.
"It doesn't bother me at all, maybe because I'm in the industry myself. On my first day on Emmerdale, I met Michael Parr [who played Ross Barton] in the morning and had to kiss him that afternoon. We thought nothing of it.
"I said: 'Nice to meet you,' had lunch, kissed him, went home. "Don't get me wrong, Gorka loves Strictly, but it's his job."
'Gorka says it looks like I don't care because I'm not in the audience'
Eagle-eyed viewers shouldn't read anything into the fact that she's rarely in the studio audience, either.
Gemma prefers to support Gorka from the comfort of her sofa, alongside Mia, and is also mindful that her presence could be off-putting to his celebrity partner.
"Gorka's always telling me to come and watch – he says it looks like I don't care, because I'm never in the audience!
"But I'm cautious because I've been a contestant and I know that the last thing his partner needs is me on the front row every Saturday breathing down their neck. I don't think that would be fair, because that's their time with him and they need to enjoy it.
"So I just keep out of it and let him do his thing, so they can enjoy the journey with him."
Gemma herself almost didn't take up Strictly's offer of a place in 2017. After 16 years in the spotlight, starring in Hollyoaks, Casualty and Emmerdale, and having been the darling of the lads' mags, she'd settled into a new radio-presenting role.
The thought of putting herself "out there" again filled her with dread.
"Strictly is the biggest show on telly and I didn't want to do it. When I was in Hollyoaks, there was no social media. I'm sure I was judged by people having their breakfast and seeing me in the paper, saying things like: 'Oh, it's her in her underwear again!'
"But they couldn't physically put that on me. So I definitely had the fear about getting out there again."
After going on holiday, she eventually decided to accept, and it couldn't have worked out any better.
Gemma danced all the way to the final with her pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec ("He took me to another level confidence-wise. He used to go: 'F**k it, we're just dancing!' And he was right.").
She also made her relationship official with Gorka shortly after the show, and the rest is history.
But Strictly or no Strictly, she believes fate would have brought them together anyway.
"I think I still would have met him. We didn't know it when we got together, but it turned out we have mutual friends in the fitness industry and have worked with the same brands, so I think we always would have crossed paths. I know I would have met him somehow.
"I do believe in coincidence, but I also think what's meant for you won't pass you by. It's the whole 'sliding-doors' effect.
"Had I done Strictly the previous year, it would have been completely different, as I was in a relationship at that time. I did Strictly when we were both single, and there's no one else I can ever imagine having a family with."
'With babies, it's not that the intimacy goes… It switches'
Their family, she says, is now complete. They are raising Mia and Thiago to be bilingual and are in the process of buying a holiday home in Spain, but there are no plans for any more kids.
"I feel like loads of people set me up for the worst, saying it was going to be really tough with two and asking how was I going to cope. Even I was thinking: 'Oh my god, what have I done?'
"But I've found it's like muscle memory with your second child. You have a catalogue in your head of what to do, so in that respect it's been a lot easier, because I've not panicked. He's just slotted in, really!"
It does mean that, even when they're together, Gemma and Gorka's time as a couple can be limited.
When they first got together, she said their relationship could be defined as "best friends who can't keep their hands off each other". But new baby equals tired parents, and it's not the description she'd give now!
"Not so much! With babies, it's not that the intimacy goes, but because we're both knackered, it switches.
"Intimacy to me can be if I'm in the kitchen and he walks past and gives me a little peck on the cheek or a back rub.
"Every morning, he gives me the biggest kiss and doesn't care that I haven't brushed my teeth! You become more connected when you have children – mentally and emotionally. Physically, it's still there, but it takes on a different meaning.
"Gorka always says he has such a level of respect for me, seeing me go through two C-sections to bring his children into the world. And now and again, I remind him of that, too!"
Gemma has recovered well from Thiago's birth and didn't push herself to return to the weight training that previously kept her fit. After resting her body for several months, she's now halfway through a 12-week programme with PT Steve Chambers, AKA "Evil Steve", but with the aim to bulk up rather than lose weight.
"For three months after having Thiago, I still looked pregnant. It's only in the last two months that I've started to get back to my regular size.
"With both of them, I think everyone assumed because I was so fit, I'd just go back to training, but it wasn't the case.
"I was still healing, but what I could do was not eat a Mars bar every day! If you make little changes and focus on what you can do rather than what you can't, then it snowballs and it's hard to feel bad about a body you're taking care of.
"The fact that I've carried and given birth to two children blows my mind. That's the female body doing its thing and it's a privilege denied to so many women.
"To moan about gaining weight is so insignificant when there are women who would kill to have stretch marks from a pregnancy."
Gemma has arrived fresh-faced for our photo shoot in Manchester, with no entourage. She's armed only with a mammoth bottle of water and is as down-to-earth and undemanding as you'd expect.
It's probably why she connects with so many people, especially women, among her almost 2 million Instagram followers.
"Sometimes I go on Instagram and think I should have put on make-up for that story, because I look horrendous.
"But I get a lot of positive feedback from people saying: 'Thank you for not having your hair and make-up done all the time,'" she says.
'You forget about the cameras – I'd eaten five digestives without realising'
The family's relatability was key to the success of last year's three-part reality series Gemma And Gorka: Life Behind The Lens.
The gentle, candid peek into the ups and downs of family life is returning to W and UKTV Play this spring.
"We've never done any photo shoots as a family, and obviously the series is way more intrusive than that," says Gemma.
"But the production team wanted it to be a factual documentary reality series – it's not the sort of show where they set up scenes, and everything is as it is.
"You forget the cameras are there. I got a message, saying: 'You eating five digestives has made me feel seen.' I was like: 'When did I eat five digestives?!' Sure enough, I had done
on one of the episodes, so I was obviously in denial."
She's still officially on maternity leave, but Gemma is as much in demand for work as Gorka.
Since Strictly, her profile has soared – she has written a series of health and fitness books, launched collections with fashion website In The Style, moved to present the drive-time slot on Hits Radio (she returns to the airwaves in April) and, last year, branched out into podcasting with her show The Overshare.
She's also just released her debut children's book, Dogs Don't Dance, written while pregnant with Thiago, about a dachshund called Dave who wants to dance, but is told by everyone he meets to forget about it.
"I thought it would give me something to focus on towards the end of pregnancy," she says.
"I knew I wanted to include dogs and then with the dance element, it took me back to Strictly, when every week I'd thought I'd forget the routine.
"Even though I was nervous, I got through it, so I thought that would be a good message about trying new things."
The story itself will undoubtedly have wide appeal, but there are some elements that are deeply personal to Gemma.
Dave is named after her dad David, who died of a heart attack when she was just 17. And the characters of dogs Dave and Dusty are based on her own pooches, Ollie ("wild and will try anything") and Norman ("much more sensitive and timid").
Gemma may have a lot going on, but it feels like she's found some balance between work and home life. "I've been in this industry since I was 15 and I'll be 40 this year, so it's been most of my life," she says.
"The radio I do is 30 minutes from my house and I get to do the school run in the mornings. It's nice to be in that position where it's all quite manageable. And I feel very fortunate for that, I really do."
- Dogs Don't Dance (£7.99, Scholastic) is out now.
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