GEMMA ATKINSON
REVEALS WHY DAUGHTER MIA IS THE SECRET OF HER SUCCESS
Whenever Gemma Atkinson felt exhausted during her recent charity trek in the Scottish Highlands, she knew who to turn to. Her two-year-old daughter Mia – whose dad is Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Márquez – had recorded a special message for her mum.
“I had a video of Mia saying: ‘Keeeep walking!’ So whenever we needed a motivational talk, we just watched the video,” she says.
The actress has only just returned home to Manchester from the challenge when she catches up with hello!, and she’s already missing the “peace, tranquillity and simplicity” of the rugged landscape, where she hiked for 62 miles over five days to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!. Joining fellow team captains Giovanna Fletcher, Emma Willis and The Great British Bake Off’s Selasi Gbormittah, Gemma and another 102 women, including ex- Bake Off
winner Candice Brown, took on some of the most challenging areas of the Scottish Highlands, such as the summit of Ben Lawers, one of Scotland’s highest mountains, facing unpredictable weather and sleeping in a tent at night. But for the star, it was worth it for the landscape alone, which was “something out of a fairytale book”. “The scenery was incredible,” she tells us. “The mountains were so green, and you’d casually pass loads of wild deer, wild horses and red squirrels. It also reminded you of how powerful Mother Nature is. On one of the walks, we had to apply sunscreen because it was so hot and there was no cloud, and then ten minutes later there was torrential rain and wind that felt as if it was going to knock you off the mountain. “Some of the walks were flattish, and others were very steep, or boggy – it was like walking in quicksand,” continues Gemma, who trained for six weeks with her personal trainer to build up her stamina.
“Every now and again a frog would leap over your boot. But the view at the top was worth it.”
Frogs seemed to be a recurring theme of the trek, especially at night when after a ten- hour walk, the women would return to their tents.
“The first night I was really cold and had to get up twice for what we called a ‘wild wee’. At 2am you can hear the owls in the trees.
“Throughout the week I had a couple of spiders, slugs, caterpillars and a frog get into my tent. But it’s surprising how quickly you get used to it and we all individually looked forward to going back to our little tent because it was so cosy.”
MORALE BOOSTER
As team captain, it was Gemma’s job to keep the morale high and rally the troops if they flagged.
“The first thing I wanted to do was to get to know everybody, and get an idea as to why people were doing it,” she says.
“I felt a bit of a fraud because I’ve not been personally affected by breast cancer. But having heard the women’s stories, and the fact that many of them had cancer through no family gene or family history, I was like: ‘Wow, this disease can really pick and choose who it wants.’
“Some of the women were still having treatment, so i t was remarkable they were able to do it at all.”
Inevitably, a close bond was formed amongst the group of 25, who are already planning a reunion in January. Gemma only saw Giovanna, whom she knows well, and Emma, whom she’d not met before, at night, as all three were leading their own teams during the day. So there was little time for Gemma and Giovanna to discuss their respective partners’ participation in this year’s Strictly – Gorka as a professional dancer teamed with Hollyoaks actress Katie McGlynn, and Giovanna’s husband Tom, who is competing.
“I told G: ‘Get ready for the best three months – the kids are going to love seeing their dad performing,’” says Gemma, who first met Gorka when she danced in the BBC show in 2017, reaching the final with her partner, Aljaz Skorjanec.
HOME FROM HOME
There’s a special bonus this year in that rather than spend the next few months apart, Gorka will be based at home in Manchester, where his dance partner Katie also lives, for rehearsals during the week.
“I’ll probably see more of him than usual – I won’t be able to get rid of him!” jokes Gemma. “I was expecting to go on loads of girls’ nights out.”
She says she would have been delighted with whoever he was partnered with, “because I know that whoever he gets is going to have the best time”. She adds: “But the fact that Katie is a Northerner, and is absolutely lovely, I think will be great for him. I can’t wait to watch him dance.”
Having got engaged on Valentine’s Day earlier this year, they are in no rush to get married and haven’t as yet made any wedding plans.
“Everything is absolutely lovely as it is, so rather than rush it in a pandemic, we’d rather wait until everything calms down,” she reasons.
In the meantime, her job on Hits
Radio and her second, soon-to-be published fitness and recipe book are keeping her busy. She’d also love to take on another CoppaFeel! challenge in the future – this one so far has raised £334,000.
“It’s such a wonderful thing to put yourself out of your comfort zone and meet women who have overcome challenges,” she says.
“We didn’t wear make- up or shower for days, and we all saw each other’s bums weeing in the bushes. It was just women doing what they could to raise money.”
To donate, please visit coppafeel.enthuse.com/pf/celeb-team-captains-official-00a12.
‘ The scenery was incredible. It reminded you of how powerful Mother Nature is’