Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson has opened up about what it was like to date one of the most famous footballers in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atkinson was involved with Ronaldo during his first stint at Manchester United back in 2007. But despite being one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, the model revealed that some of her dates with the football star were extraordinarily laid back.
Speaking to Manchester's Key 103 radio, she recalled one time when the loved-up pair went to her house to drink cups of tea and watch Only Fools And Horses.
"Genuinely!" she said. "I don’t know if he’s into it now but he seemed to enjoy it.”
Atkinson said that she turned down huge fees for telling all about her relationship with the sports star, who has an estimated net worth of more than £350 million and boasts some 460 million followers on Instagram.
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"When we did split up, I got offered so much money to speak about him. And I didn’t want that," she said.
Gemma was engaged to former Brentford and Everton footballer Marcus Bent in 2008 and also Britain's Got Talent star Liam Richards in 2013.
Now, she is engaged to dancer Gorka Marquez, 31, after the pair met on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017. Their daughter, Mia, was born in July 2019.
Gorka popped the question on Valentine’s Day last year, but the happy couple were forced to postpone the wedding due to strict Covid rules in Spain, where Gorka’s family live.
Atkinson told the Mirror at the time that despite knowing some people were having it really tough, lockdown with Gorka was "actually really lovely".
"Gorka works away a lot so it was good to have that time together," she said. "Obviously it was horrendous for some people, but we just said, 'Look, it is what it is. We're not going to get this time back. Let's embrace it."
She added: "Normally with us juggling our work one of us will look after Mia and one of us will walk the dogs for example, but during lockdown we could do things as a family.
"We had a lovely weather too which was great. Before lockdown we always had to juggle things.
"We won't have that back so we tried to make the most of it."
While her fiancé is tied up with Strictly from July to Christmas each year, Gemma presents the Drivetime show on Hits Radio in Manchester, calling the job a "win-win" because it is “on her doorstep” - just a short distance from her home in the city.
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