Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Marquez has shared a rare insight into his relationship with Gemma Atkinson, revealing the unusual way he got to know her.
The couple fell for one another after meeting on the BBC series back in 2017 when she was partnered Aljaž Škorjanec and he with Alexandra Burke.
Despite neither lifting the Glitterball that year, they won something bigger, one another, when their romance blossomed on the Strictly Live tour in early 2018.
Almost five years on, the pair are engaged and welcomed their second child together, a son named Thiago, last week. They are also parents to daughter Mia.
Now opening up about the early days of their romance, the Spanish dancer, 32, revealed how he used to listen to her Hits Radio Breakfast Show to get to know her better.
He told Alex Legouix on the Show On The Road by Auto Trader podcast: “My beautiful fiancée works on the radio.
“When I met her for the first time, she used to do the breakfast show and even before we were together I used to listen to the radio every morning.
“I used to go to the gym at six in the morning and put the radio on and just listen to her because it was a way to get to know her more.
“And I think that’s why we work so well because we became friends before partners, and she’s my best friend."
Soon after they began dating, Marquez moved to Manchester and admitted that it was an “easy” decision.
He continued: “It was easy to move [to Manchester] because I didn’t have anybody in London. I know how much she loves Manchester. She’s such a Manchester girl.
“She loves where she’s from and she’s very proud of it.
“It actually makes me fall more in love with her because she’s proud of where she’s from and she doesn’t deny she’s from Manchester.”
Atkinson, 38, has appeared in a number of TV soaps and dramas including as Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks, Tamzin Bayle in Casualty and Carly Hope in Emmerdale.
Meanwhile, Marquez has been a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing since 2016 and is currently rehearsing for the upcoming installment.
