Gemma Atkinson has announced that she is pregnant with her second child, taking to Instagram on Saturday to share the exciting news with her 1.8 million followers.
The English TV star said that she and partner Gorka Márquez, 32, feel "so incredibly blessed" to be expecting another baby together, having already welcomed their beloved daughter Mia in 2019.
Atkinson confirmed the life-changing update with a black-and-white photo of her bare pregnant stomach on Instagram on Saturday, joking that it had become "impossible to hide my belly any longer."
The 38-year-old also shared two more photos in the carousel, one of which showed the adorable Mia nestled up to her unborn sibling and listening for kicks. Márquez, whom Atkinson met on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, joins Atkinson and their daughter for the last snap.
"I’ve officially popped," she said in the heartwarming caption, before revealing the biological sex of the baby to be male.
"Our baby boy will be joining our family later this year," the post continues. "Grateful to be on this journey again. Mia is absolutely thrilled! Although we may need to do some negotiating on names, as so far she’s adamant he’s going to be called Barbie."
In an exercise video posted to her Instagram on Monday, Atkinson revealed that Mia had also been brutally unfiltered when she learned she was going to be a sister. The preschooler didn't hold back her honest thoughts, asking her celebrity mother, “Is that why your belly is a bit like Daddy pigs?" after being told the news.
Atkinson, who first rose to the spotlight in the early noughties as a glamour model, is best known for her roles as Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks and Tamzin Bayle in Casualty. She has also appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Celebrity Mastermind, as well as Soapstar Superstar and Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star. Her most recent projects, however, have seen her co-host an afternoon show on Hits Radio with Mike Toolan and present The Toddler Club on Cbeebies.
Atkinson's baby news was met with an inpouring of comments from celebrity friends and fans, with stars like Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha and Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice posting their good wishes below her post.
In an Instagram Story posted after the announcement, Atkinson revealed that she has continued to exercise throughout her pregnancy but accepts that 'hormones' will affect her training.
"I’ve learnt that Athleticism doesn’t have to stop completely if you don’t want it to, but it does have to be adjusted and you need to be smart and mentally accept 'stepping down from the norm for a while'," she wrote. "The weights I’m currently lifting aren’t heavy for me, but they are heavy for my pelvis and vagina."
