Gorka Marquez may be vying for the Glitterball trophy again later this year but he has something much bigger ahead of him first. The Strictly Come Dancing star is currently counting down the weeks until he welcomes his second child with fiancee Gemma Atkinson.
The loved-up couple, who met on the BBC One dance show in 2017, announced back in January that they are expecting baby number two after welcoming daughter Mia back in 2019. They confirmed at the time of sharing their wonderful news that they are expecting a little boy who is due this summer.
Bury-born Gemma, 38, has now finished work on Hits Radio but is still busy getting some projects off the ground as she starts her maternity alone before dancer Gorka finishes touring with his co-stars on the 'Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals' UK tour.
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Once he returns, he'll have a couple of weeks to bask in life as a family-of-three before their son makes an appearance, with Gemma previously sharing how she hadn't asked for a 'due date' but has been told the "back few weeks in June to the front few weeks in July he could be coming."
And Gorka will only get a few months with his expanded family before work on the new series of Strictly begins. After rumours he was to 'quit' following missing out on the Glitterball in the final last year with celebrity partner Helen Skelton, the 32-year-old has since been confirmed among the string of professional dancers returning for the 2023 series, leaving fans thrilled.
Also confirmed to return to the ballroom this autumn are Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas and Vita Coppola.
And, speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, Gorka shared his joy at being asked back for another year. "I am super excited [to be back]," he told us. "I am very grateful that I get another opportunity to be back on Strictly. It's the best show on telly and for us dancers, to get the opportunity to be part of such an important show, it gives us the opportunity to showcase what we do and to do what we love as a job, I'm very grateful for it.
"I'm very excited. And time flies. I was just saying the other day that I joined Strictly in 2016 and it's already been eight years and to me, it feels like last year was the first year. It's amazing and I am very grateful."
Sharing how the show has changed his life after meeting Gemma when she was a contestant on the show, but not partnered with him- almost six years ago - Gorka said: "I'm very grateful as Strictly has not only changed my professional life, it also changed my personal life.
"I met Gemma, we've created our own family, we're expecting out second baby now so I'm very, very grateful." Asked whether having a newborn at home will make this year's series harder for him, the Spanish-born dancer said: "I have experience as it is our second baby. We went through a lot of this with Mia in the past.
"But Mia loves Strictly and as hard as it's going to be because it's hard even when I'm on tour and I'm away and don't see them often, I'm very grateful I get to do what I do for a living and it's always to do the best for my family and also find the balance. I try to find the balance between work and family and it works for us. Thanks to FaceTime we see each other all the time, when I have days off I go home and when we're in Manchester, Mia comes to see the show because she loves it and Gemma loves it too."
He added: "And they are very supportive. It is very hard to be away but at the same time, they make me feel like they're proud of what I do and what I do is for them and for our family."
On whether he's ready to be a dad-of-two, Gorka shared: "Yes, I can't wait. We're more excited. The little one is excited to be a big sister and me and Gemma are excited to welcome the little man."
And would Gorka like to have another dancer on his hands? "She loves dancing," Gorka said of Mia. "And I'm sure the little man is also going to have happy feet as he's already wriggling in Gemma's tummy. I'm sure Mia will be the one teaching him to dance more than me."
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