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Rose Hill & Nicola Roy

Gemma Atkinson announces second pregnancy with Strictly pro Gorka Marquez

Strictly star Gemma Atkinson has announced that she's expecting her second child with professional dancer Gorka Marquez.

The former Hollyoaks actress met boyfriend Gorka during her time on Strictly Come Dancing and the pair welcomed their first daughter Mia back in 2019.

Now Gemma is expecting a boy as she revealed to fans on Instagram, posting a sweet picture showing off her bump that she joked was now "impossible to hide".

The Mirror reports the 38-year-old shared a candid black-and-white snap of herself in tracksuit bottoms and a vest top, gazing fondly at her bump.

She wrote: "Impossible to hide my belly any longer. I’ve officially 'popped.'

Gemma said it was "impossible" to hide her bump any longer (gorka_marquez/instagram)

"Our baby boy will be joining our family later this year.

"We feel so incredibly blessed and Grateful to be on this journey again. Mia is absolutely thrilled! Although we may need to do some negotiating on names, as so far she’s adamant he’s going to be called Barbie."

Gorka reshared the post, tagging it with a simple "#blessed" comment.

In the comments, friends and family were full of congratulations for the pair about their announcement.

Fellow Strictly star Giovanni Pernice said: "Congratulation !!! The best family and def the best parents."

Amy Dowden wrote: "Soooooooooooo happy for such a beautiful family."

And John Whaite added: "Aaaahh what lovely news. Congratulations."

It's likely that Gemma's pregnancy is the reason why Gorka won't be embarking on the Strictly tour this year.

Helen and Gorka narrowly missed out on winning last year's competition (BBC)

Helen Skelton, who was partnered with him on the show and made it to the final, will be paired with Kai Widdrington for the tour instead.

The presenter said it was "difficult" not being with Gorka, but she was "very lucky" that Kai was able to step in instead.

The birth of Gemma and Gorka's first child wasn't an easy ride, as the actress revealed in an Instagram post back in 2019.

Health professionals were forced to take action when little Mia's heart rate started to drop while she was in the womb, with Gemma ending up losing a lot of blood later on.

She wrote: "I don’t remember much other than having around 9 doctors in the room, some injecting me, hooking me to drips, physically pulling clots out of me & one comforting Gorks who was beside himself in the corner.

"I woke in another room with Gorks & my family there, Mia sleeping soundly & a lovely midwife named Di who was checking my notes. The trauma was over & thanks to our NHS & incredible hospital staff we were ok."

Despite Mia just being 4lb 10oz when she was born via emergency C-section, she and Gemma quickly healed after the traumatic ordeal and the actress said how "incredibly lucky" she felt about the outcome.

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