Gemma Atkinson tells Gorka Marquez 'thank God' after Strictly Come Dancing reunion realisation

Gemma Atkinson has told Gorka Marquez 'thank God' as a mini Strictly Come Dancing reunion sparked a realisation. The Hits Radio host and dancer have a lot to thank the BBC One dance contest for.

The pair met on the hit dance show in 2017 when Gemma was a contestant and partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec while Gorka was in his second year as a professional on the show and partnered with singer Alexandra Burke. Both couples made it to the final before heading out on the show's live arena tour in early 2018.

And the rest, as they say, is history and Gemma, 39, and Gorka, 33, soon went official with the romance and have since welcomed two children into the world - daughter Mia in 2019 and son Thiago in 2023 - and also got engaged on Valentine's Day in 2021.

READ MORE: Gemma Atkinson offers update after sharing emotional family heartbreak in '24 hours'

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But Strictly is very much still a huge part of their lives with Gorka heading into his ninth series as a pro later this year and also plenty of their friends are from the show, both past and present, including Gemma's former dance partner and former Strictly pro Aljaz.

Aljaz and his wife Janette Manrara, who is now the co-host of Strictly's BBC2 spin-off It Takes Two, welcomed their first child into the world in July last year, less than two weeks after Gemma and Gorka's son made his entrance into the world. And following the first-time parents' move to Cheshire from London last year, it has meant the two families have been able to spend more time together.

And so over the weekend, while Janette was enjoying a well-earned girls' weekend in Marbella with former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, Aljaz headed to see Gemma and Gorka with Gemma joking on her Instagram Story: "Lyra came to play and @aljazskorjanec came to eat lots."

She wrote the message alongside a video of Thiago, Lyra and Mia playing together in a playpen at her and Gorka's Greater Manchester home and also added: "As cute as this video is, all I can think is, thank God we didn't have twins @gorka_marquez," adding a crying laughing emoji as she revealed she and Gorka both have twins in their families.

The hilarious realisation came before Gemma took to Instagram to share an adorable family milestone with her followers. The former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star shared a video in which she was making the most out of the sunshine with her nearly one-year-old son.

The pair headed out into the garden and it is there where Thiago, known as Tio for short, surprised his mum by taking a few steps on his own. Luckily, the radio presenter had captured the sweet moment on her phone and then took to Instagram to share it with her fans. The caption read: "Exploring in the garden. He definitely walked on his own, didn't he?! I keep watching it back but he did!! [clapping emoji."

Fans and friends then took to the comments section to reassure the mum, with Hits Radio co-host Mike Toolan writing: "He deffo did!! Way to go Tio. Get him to do split squats now," seemingly referring to Gemma's keen interest in the gym.