Gemma Atkinson has announced the name of her second child with Gorka Marquez as she shared the first picture of the infant.
The couple, who met when the former Emmerdale star took part in BBC reality show Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, welcomed their first child earlier this week.
In her original post, Atkinson, 38, shared that she had given birth to a boy, with the pair spending a joyous week together before Spanish dancer Marquez, 32, heads off to rehearsal for the new series of Strictly.
On Saturday (22 July), Atkinson shared her first photo of her baby son sleeping in his cot in a blue t-shirt.
She confirmed his name in the comment section, writing: “Thiago Thomas Marquez [heart emoji]. Our family is complete.”
Atkinson and Marquez’s fellow Strictly stars flooded the comment section with support, with pro Oti Mabuse calling the picture “beautiful”.
It Takes Two host Janette Manrara commented: “Look at him! CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!”
Dianne Buswell said that Thiago was a “mini” version of his father, while Karen Hauer wrote: “Oh the most beautiful little one. Felicidades.”
The couple, who already share a three-year-old daughter, Mia, were not partnered up on Strictly in 2017, but started dating after the series finished.
Atkinson gave birth to Mia in 2019, during which she he needed an emergency c-section and suffered a haemorrhage after the birth, losing nearly a litre of blood.
Following the experience she said she was initially “adamant” that she and Marquez would not want another child.
Appearing on Steph’s Packed Lunch last year, she recalled: “All these things were going through my mind, what did I do that caused all that to happen? I was telling myself for weeks and weeks I’d failed at childbirth.
“I was having horrible dreams that someone was going to take Mia from me. I remember my mum running into my bedroom and I was sat up screaming, sweating.”
Marquez will appear as a professional dancer on the forthcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing, which kicks off in September.
One fan favourite pro who won’t be taking part this year, however, is Amy Dowden, following her breast cancer diagnosis.
The Welsh dancer, 32, told fans she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer in May and underwent a full mastectomy to treat the disease shortly after.
Dowden had shared ambitions to compete on the dancing competition this year, saying that only chemotherapy would affect whether she’d compete on this year’s Strictly.
However, on Friday (21 July), Dowden shared that she would be needing to have chemo after more tumours were discovered following her mastectomy.
“They found another type of cancer and then they told me I needed chemo – for me that was a massive blow,” she said. “It wasn’t in the plan, originally – and I know the plan you can’t get fixated on.
“This year, it means I’m not going to be able to dance with a celebrity on Strictly, but I’m in such regular contact with the team – the BBC have just been utterly incredible,” she said.
