Gemma Atkinson has slammed reports claiming boyfriend Gorka Marquez has begged Strictly bosses to let him stay close to his pregnant partner while filming the upcoming series.
A newspaper alleged the professional dancer, who has been a regular on the BBC show since 2016, asked show execs to let him be partnered with someone from the North as he didn’t want to be separated from Gemma after she gives birth to their first child together.
The hit dancing show requires its pro-dancers to relocate to be near their celebrity partners for the duration of the shoot.
But the former Hollyoaks actress, 34, has said there’s absolutely no truth to the claims as she praised her boyfriend’s work ethic.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the fitness fanatic fumed: “100% not true! Gorks is a professional and will go wherever he is needed to do his job!”
Gem added: “I never normally justify anything to [expletive] online articles but when it comes to my partner and his career or my baby I will.
“The sooner people stop believing everything they read the better.”
Gemma and Gorka, who is yet to comment on the reports himself, met on the set of Strictly back in 2017 when she was a celebrity contestant on the show.
They announced they were expecting their first child in February this year.
Gemma recently opened up about how much she was looking forward to feeling like herself again after giving birth – hitting back at fans who assumed she was talking about losing her pregnancy weight.
She shared a post to Instagram saying that pregnancy is a lot more complicated than that, and that her size is the “least of her worries”.
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“Posting today about getting back to ‘feeling like me’ post baby,” she said.
“I don’t know why some people assume all we want to do after birth is ‘snap back.’ Yes, I massively miss my training. But there’s a lot more to me feeling good than just the way I look from going to the gym.
“For example, sleeping on my tummy. I miss that [bleep]! It’s comfy and it’s the only position that I can sleep through the whole night on.
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“Playing rough with my dogs. I miss being able to cartwheel in the garden with them jumping all over me and barking.”
Gemma went on to list other things she took for granted that pregnancy has called a halt too – like carrying her own groceries and not having to take an aisle seat when she watches Gorka perform, saying: “Those are some of the little things that mean nothing to anyone else but they all matter to me.
“And that’s what I’m referring to also. My size is the least of my worries after what my body will have been through.”
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