'The Strictly curse is OFFENSIVE!'

Gorka Marquez and Gemma Atkinson on parenthood and cheating rumours

- CHRISTINE SMITH

Despite not being partnered together on Strictly Come Dancing, professional dancer Gorka Marquez, 33, and former Hollyoaks star, Gemma Atkinson, 39, fell in love after meeting on the BBC show in 2017. And since then, they’ve invited fans along throughout pretty much every step of their relationship. Ahead of the return of their reality series, Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind the Lens, the couple chat to Woman. Here, they reveal why they’re in no rush to get married, the truth behind the ‘Strictly curse’ and why after welcoming daughter Mia, four, and son Thiago, ten months, their family is complete.

Congratulations on the return of your TV show.

Gemma: Thanks. When they came to us and said, ‘We want a second series with six episodes,’ we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, how can we fill six episodes? We don’t even do anything!’ But they said, ‘That’s what people love – the normal mundane life that everyone deals with.’ No glitz, no glamour. Our series is manic, chaos, but it’s real everyday life!

How are you finding juggling having two children?

Gemma: We have been a lot more relaxed with Thiago as you know what you’re doing. That fear of the first is gone. It’s like the first time Mia got a little milk rash, I was like, ‘Gorka, what is this all over her body?’ With Thiago, we saw it and we were like, ‘OK, that’s what that is.’ I feel like he has always been here, he has slotted in so well.