Gemma Atkinson has teased her latest wedding plans suggesting this may be her last Christmas as a fiancée. The Hits Radio host and her Strictly Come Dancing star fiancé Gorka Marquez are nearing their fifth anniversary after meeting in 2017 when Gemma took part in the BBC One dance contest.
Love blossomed behind the scenes for the pair as Gemma made it to the final with Aljaž Škorjanec and Gorka with former X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. However, the loved-up couple didn't confirm their relationship until the following year, following the end of the Strictly live tour which took in arenas across the country.
Gemma, 38, and Gorka, 32, have since welcomed their first child together, daughter Mia, and on Valentine’s Day last year, dancer Gorka got down on one knee and proposed to Gemma.
Speaking about her and Gorka's Christmas plans, the former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star shared how she plans to take a break to be with her man and their little girl, who turned three over the summer. "I will definitely take a break over Christmas. My last day in work is the 22 December and then I go back in after the New Year. For me it's really important to take a break, even if that means just sitting on the couch eating chocolate over Christmas, it's fine.
"I just think quality time with your family is a must and I don't think there's a better time to do it than at Christmas really. Even if it's cold and snowy everyone seems to be in a good mood and Christmas is definitely my favourite time of the year."
She went on to say: "This Christmas we’re at my mum’s on Christmas Day, which I love, and then hopefully we’ll get to go Spain between Christmas and New Year to see Gorka’s family, because Mia’s got her Abuelo and Abuela out there, Nana and Gran Gran here. So yes, just a good old traditional family Christmas all-round really. I can't wait to be honest – too much food and not enough sleep, but you know, that's what we all love about Christmas!"
And when quizzed on whether this could be her last Christmas as an engaged woman, the mum-of-one replied: "It could be my last Christmas as a fiancé, yes. We have spoken about getting married a few times, talking about what we want to do. Half the time we say should just go to registry office and do it there, and then it's done, then have a big party.
"I think that will be the route we will go down. Two of my friends are getting married, one at Christmas and one next year and seeing the stress they have gone through planning a big wedding, I’m kind of like, no, I'll do a little small wedding and throw a big party afterwards."
Gemma was chatting as she has teamed up with Mia to help support Family Action's annual Christmas campaign, Make Theirs Magic, by taking to take time out to help gift wrap some of the thousands of toys being donated by the Fisher-Price brand to be given to families around the UK who need a helping hand this year.
In a heart-warming video recorded at their Greater Manchester family home, Gemma and Mia are seen creating their own Christmas wrapping paper with them both getting creative using a potato and some poster paint to print onto paper. The paper they created was then used to wrap up some of the toys donated by the Fisher-Price brand for the appeal.
"I'm supporting the ‘Make Theirs Magic’ campaign because as a mum myself, I know the challenges that parents face when it comes to certain times of the year, and I just think every family could do with a helping hand, especially at Christmas," Gemma said. "The fact that so many children across the UK don't necessarily get as many toys as others, it's great that the Make Theirs Magic campaign can help to even things out, and I just think as an annual toy appeal, it's a wonderful positive thing to be involved in.
"I can't wait to hear from the families who received these Fisher-Price toys that we helped to wrap this Christmas, and hopefully a lot more children will have a better Christmas because of this."
Speaking of time, Gemma also shared how she likes to take time out to spend time playing with Mia and why it's so important. "I always try and schedule time for me and Mia to play together, especially now that she's at pre-school," the TV and radio star said. "I just think it's really really important not only for our bonding time, but if I can do something that encourages her to play and learn at the same time it's a win-win.
"I think all parents sometimes feel guilt that we're not spending enough time with our kids, and we think is our child going to be developing less than other child because their parents are more hands on. But life sometimes gets in the way of time with your family, and everyone experiences that. Everyone has moments of guilt with that."
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