Gorka Marquez has been a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing since 2016. Gorka, 30, and his financée, Gemma Atkinson, 36 now have two children together.
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The pair first met through Strictly Come Dancing, but it wasn’t due to the ‘Strictly curse’ because the two weren’t paired together for the 15th season of the show. However, rumours of their relationship did begin in 2017, when Gemma was on the BBC dance show.
Gorka Marquez and Gemma Atkinson met on Strictly
As mentioned above, Gorka Marquez and Gemma Atkinson met in 2017, on the 15th series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The two weren’t paired together, Gemma was paired with Aljaž Škorjanec while Gorka was paired with Alexandra Burke.
According to OK! The two hit it off during a group rehearsal. The rumours of their relationship began when Gorka and Gemma shared photos of each other on their Instagram pages.
They then confirmed their romance in February 2018 after denying the relationship for a few months.
Gorka Marquez and Gemma Atkinson are engaged
In 2019, Gorka and Gemma confirmed they were expecting their first child together through their Instagram.
Myself and Gem are beyond thrilled to be welcoming our new family member later this year! Baby Marquez! Norm and ollie can’t wait to start their big brother duties
Gemma then gave birth to a baby girl on July, 4, 2019 and they named her Mia. Now Mia has become a big sister as the couple announced recently as they have welcomed a baby boy named Thiago.
In 2021, Gemma revealed that Gorka had proposed to her with an Instagram post on Valentine’s Day with the caption:
Valentine’s forever…Of course I said yes
Gorka and Gemma haven’t announced when they plan on getting married, but Gorka will soon be touring with Strictly.
Shutting down negative rumours
In April 2024, Gemma Atkinson took to Instagram to refute some whispers about her relationship with Gorka. On her page she said:
Ffs, is this where we're at again?
To those who listened to our radio show and laughed along with this tongue in cheek bit of banter we had, you'll know how ridiculously click bait this article is!
On her page she also urged her fan to discard any of these rumours and reassured them that the 'rough patch' mentioned in the gossip weren't and never had been a thing.
Where the rumours were coming from
The rumours about the couple going through a difficult time emerged around the time Gorka accepted to be a part of the cast of professional dancers of the Spanish version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Him joining the show, though a great opportunity, means that he is away from home and his family quite a lot. The distance was enough for gossip to flourish.
It also probably didn't help that the couple spoke about the challenges that come with the change. For instance, while on the Learning As I Go podcast, hosted by Scott Thomas, Gemma opened up and spoke about how she is adapting to the new routine.
Explaining how his returns from Spain disturb her and her children's organisation, she said:
Because he's away a lot... when he comes back, he doesn't want to be telling [the kids] 'no'
He's like, 'I'm only with [daughter Mia] for two days this week, I'm gonna do everything with her' and I'm like, 'Okay, but she has got school in the morning, so she has to be asleep for 8:00pm latest, is that okay?'
Then at 8:20pm, I go up and there's a den made and he's throwing her around, and I'm thinking, 'Come on!'
Concluding:
When he leaves the next day, I'm waking her up for school and she's grumpy.
How Gemma is adapting to Gorka's absence
In other interviews Gamma has spoken more broadly about what her life now that Gorka is in Spain quite frequently.
On Hits Radio she explained:
It is tough and it isn’t - it takes a village, they say, with kids and I’m very fortunate that my mum and my sister are very close by.
Adding, cheekily:
Sometimes it is easier for me to get into the routine with the children whilst he’s not here and then he comes back and ruins the routine - but he’s nice to have around the house!
Read more:
⋙ Strictly’s Gorka Marquez and his fiancé Gemma share big news after alleged relationship turmoil
Sources used:
Bustle: ‘Gemma Atkinson & Gorka Márquez Are Strictly The Sweetest Couple’
OK!: ‘Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez’s relationship timeline from meeting on Strictly to their recent engagement’
Express: ‘Strictly's Gemma Atkinson and Gorka make announcement after 'rough patch' rumours’
Express: Gemma Atkinson shuts down 'rough patch' claim with Gorka Marquez after 'tough' admission
