Gemma Atkinson shares sweet gift from Strictly star to…

Gemma Atkinson shares sweet gift from Strictly star to daughter Mia as she prepares to welcome second child

Pregnant Gemma Atkinson is due to give birth in weeks to a baby boy, and she was moved by a sweet gift for daughter Mia from a Strictly Come Dancing star. The Hits Radio presenter reached out to thank Carlos Gu, who is a professional dancer on the BBC show along with her fiance Gorka Marquez, for sending three-year-old Mia a cuddly rabbit as the excitement builds ahead of the new arrival.

"So kind Mia is surrounded by so many lovely people," wrote Gemma, 38, as she shared a picture of their new furry friend on her Instagram Stories. Along with the rabbit was a thougtful card from Carlos, who joined the Strictly family in 2022.

The note read: "Dear Mia is Uncle Carlos - send you a big rabbit with love. Let me know if you give she/him name. Wish you happy and health lots of love Uncle Carlos."

Carlos is currently on the Strictly Come Dancing - The Professionals tour with Gorka, Dianne Buswell,Vito Coppola, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal and Nancy Xu. The loved-up couple, who met on Strictly in 2017 when Gemma was a celeb finalist, announced back in January that they are expecting baby number two after welcoming Mia in July 2019.

Bury-born Gemma has now finished work on Hits Radio, handing over to former Coronation Street star Brooke Vincent who will keep Gemma's seat warm while she heads off to welcome baby number two this summer. Brooke, who is famed for playing Sophie Webster in the ITV soap but hasn't been seen on screen since 2019 when the character left in the back of a taxi, has been announced as the new host for Hits Radio’s evening show, from 4pm to 7pm, and will be heard across radiowaves with Mike Toolan from Monday June 5.

Gemma shared a photo of the thoughtful gift to Mia (Gemma Atkinson/Instagram)

Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, Gorka shared his joy at returning to the Strictly dancefloor later this 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."

"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."

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