Stars get physical at gym opening The Diary
HITS Radio presenter Gemma Atkinson and her Strictly Come Dancing star boyfriend, Gorka Márquez, shared the look of love as they arrived at the launch of Ultimate Performance’s new Alderley Edge gym.
Former Emmerdale actress Gemma looked stunning in a summery red cropped top and jeans as she posed on the red carpet with her dancer beau who she met while competing in Strictly.
The Bury actress and her boyfriend were VIP guests at the opening of U.P. Cheshire and Gemma was a guest speaker at the event. She talked about her 12-week body transformation at U.P. to get in shape for her appearance on the BBC dance show at the end of last year.
“There were times when I probably swore at you both and told you I couldn’t do it anymore,” she told her trainers over the microphone.
“But after about four or five weeks I absolutely looked forward to coming in and I loved prepping my meals – and looked forward to fitting in clothes I hadn’t worn for a while.
“And I loved that my skin got better and my hair grew quicker.
“I was sleeping better and it was all literally from fuelling body right.”
Loved-up Gemma revealed earlier this year that she and Gorka had been working out together at the same gym – and share the same personal trainer jokingly nicknamed ‘Evil Steve.’
And now she’s three weeks into a new training plan. Gemma, who reached the finals on Strictly, admits that when she did the show she put on about a stone because she wasn’t training and relaxed her diet.
But U.P, which has 13 gyms worldwide including facilities at Spinningfields in the city centre, put her back on track and it took about three weeks for her to get back to what she was.
Also at the launch of the company’s first gym outside a major city centre were Corrie stars Tina O’Brien, who plays Sarah Platt in the ITV1 soap, Sair Khan, who plays budding Underworld boss Alya Nazir, and Tisha Merry, who played Steph Britton, along with Heart Radio presenter Lorna Bancroft and Hollyoaks actress and U.P. client Sarah Jayne Dunn.
Sarah, from Leigh, also underwent a 12-week body transformation to get in the best shape she’s ever been for her wedding last month while regaining the pre-pregnancy body she thought she had lost.
And the mother-of-one, who plays Mandy Richardson in the Channel Four soap, feels leaner, stronger and more confident than ever with a body shape she hasn’t had since her early 20s after dropping two dress sizes.
She said ‘I do’ with personal trainer love Jon Smith at The Holford Estate in Cheshire.