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Strictly Come Dancing: Gemma Atkinson breaks her silence on Gorka’s ‘demotion’

Actress feels "sad" her beau won't have a celebrity partner

After welcoming her first child with boyfriend Gorka Marquez, new mum Gemma Atkinson has broken her silence on her partner’s “demotion” from this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Fresh from the news that dancer Graziano Di Prima wouldn’t be paired with a celebrity on the BBC dance show this year, the same fate has befallen “Gorka the corker”.

And actress Gemma revealed that the news had made her feel “sad”.

Opening up on Instagram, Gemma posted a Boomerang of the pair and said: “Sad to not be seeing Gorks partnered up and fighting it out for the Glitter Ball this year… ‘he’s my favourite’.”

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She added: “Looking forward to watching the show though with all of the fab group numbers he’ll be in!”

She also joked about her dancer partner Aljaz Skorjanec: “And at least now I only have to vote for Aljaz and not the both of them.”

Gemma and Gorka met on the show in 2017 and Gemma gave birth to their first child, a girl called Mia, back in July.

Gorka had earlier posted a picture of himself to the social network to officially break the news to his fans.

He said: “For everybody that’s been asking, I can let you know that this series, I sadly won’t be partnered with a celebrity for the main series of Strictly. However, I will still be heavily involved in all of the group numbers and all things Strictly!”

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He continued: “I’m excited to see this year’s celebs and my fellow professionals dance for the Glitter Ball and I hope to be back fighting for it next year.”

He added: “As always, it’s gonna be a GREAT series.”

Gemma was quick to comment on that post, too, telling her beau: “Love you [red heart emoji].”

The star also made a joke about money. She said: “Will save me a fortune voting.”

New dad Gorka also hinted that it wasn’t his decision to step down from the main line-up.

A fan asked: “Nooo why?? You are brilliant?? I hope it’s your choice so you can spend more time with baby and mum.”

He replied: “Not really, LOL. But I will.”

The news comes as this year’s hopefuls started rehearsals with the professional dancers.

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor