I don’t fear the Strictly curse. For Gorks and me it’s a blessing
Gemma Atkinson on romance with dancer
Gemma & Gorka
introduced Gorka to her friends including Ryan.
She explained: “Any relationship I’ve been in, I’ve always had people wishing it would end. Not a lot of people like to see people happy or doing well. But 99 per cent of people have been lovely about Gorka and I.
“Gorka has met Ryan a few times. I’ve know Ryan for 15 years now and I wanted Gorka to meet my friends so we all went out for a big meal.”
Gemma says she “would love kids” but “not yet”, adding: “I’m
33 but I still feel too young. We want to go on holidays and have a few Christmases together, we want to be a bit selfish. Fingers crossed one day.
“But I’m not fussed about marriage. If I was to do it, it would be a case of going away and doing it and saying, ‘Mum I’ve got married’.
“The only thing that would be nice is to have the same surname but to wear a diamond ring and a dress doesn’t appeal.”
Now with the launch of her fitness clothing range – GA by Gemma Atkinson – she finally feels confident about her body.
“In my early twenties you wanted to be skinny. If someone was petite I would feel like a drag queen next to them. As soon as Strictly was announced people were like, ‘Good luck with that, you’re not very feminine, you’re not very ladylike, I can’t wait to see you fall flat on your face’.”
Gemma – whose pro partner was Aljaz Skorjanec – went on: “Aljaz was incredible. Every time we were about to dance he said you have 1.5mins to prove those people wrong, and it really fired me up. He was so right. Now I’m Gemma has her own fitness gear range the best version of myself, five foot nine and broad shouldered and I’m healthy and strong. That is good enough.”
Reflecting on how she found love, she adds: “When Strictly was first offered to me, I said no. But if I hadn’t done it I wouldn’t have had the experience I had, I wouldn’t have met Gorks.
“Fear is temporary but regret is forever. It was the best decision I made doing the show.”
halina.watts@mirror.co.uk
He is very loving with me...he cooks a lot of tapas GEMMA ATKINSON ON HER BOYFRIEND GORKA