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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katie Wilson

Strictly's Gorka Marquez admits he struggles leaving pregnant wife and their child behind

Gorka Marquez has admitted he struggles to leave behind pregnant Gemma Atkinson and daughter Mia when he goes on tour.

The professional dancer, who will be back for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing later this year, pulled out of the latest live arena tour to spend time with his family.

In a candid Q&A with fans on Instagram, the 32-year-old was asked: “Do you find it really hard leaving Gemma and Mia?”

“Yes!!! And more the Mia gets older,” Gorka confessed.

He was also asked what the most enjoyable thing he does with three-year-old Mia is at present – and the proud dad simply replied: “Anything with her!”

Gorka shared his love for his family in a candid Instagram Q&A (Instagram)
He said his favourite thing to do with his daughter Mia was 'anything with her' (Instagram)

Gorka and Gemma welcomed Mia, who will soon turn four, in July 2019 and announced the happy news they were expecting again in January.

The former Hollyoaks star, who met Gorka when she appeared on Strictly in 2017, was forced to reveal the news as her bump had become "impossible to hide".

She also shared she is expecting a baby boy with fans.

Making the announcement on Instagram, Gemma posted a black and white photo of herself in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a vest top, gazing down at her bump with a smile.

She tweeted: "Impossible to hide my belly any longer. I’ve officially 'popped'. Our baby boy will be joining our family later this year.”

Gorka and Gemma have been together since 2017 (Instagram)
With daughter Mia, who turns four in July (Instagram)

The 38-year-old actress added: "We feel so incredibly blessed and 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."

Gorka reshared the post, tagging it with a simple "#blessed" comment.

Gemma's pregnancy is likely the reason Gorka pulled out of the Strictly live tour this year as he didn't want to spend time away from his family.

He explained: “After the Strictly series I always like to take some down time to spend quality time with Gem and Mia.

“I am grateful for the work but I also think spend time with family is important. Time flies and we won’t get those memories back. ”

Gemma recently shared she was pregnant again (Instagram)
She posted this sweet snap of Mia listening to her bump (Instagram)

Last year Gemma opened up about her "traumatic birth" with daughter Mia - but insisted that it hadn't put her off having another child.

Speaking on Steph's Packed Lunch, the radio host said: "I’m at the stage where I want a sister or brother for Mia. The first few months of Mia’s life, I kept saying to my partner, Gorka, I’m not going through that again. I’ve now come of it and I feel I could."

Revealing just how bad things were first time round, Gemma shared she had an emergency c-section and could have died when she started haemorrhaging huge amounts of blood.

Sharing her experience on Instagram, she said: “The weary smile on my face doesn’t quite portray how happy I was inside as 30hrs earlier, things could have gone very differently.”

She continued: “I don’t remember much other than having around 9 doctors in the room, some injecting me, hooking me to drips, physically pulling clots out of me & one comforting Gorks who was beside himself in the corner.

“I woke in another room with Gorks & my family there, Mia sleeping soundly & a lovely midwife named Di who was checking my notes. The trauma was over & thanks to our NHS & incredible hospital staff we were ok.

“I’m fully aware for some people it’s a different outcome & I feel incredibly lucky that me & Mia are healthy & healed. My mum moved in with me while Gorks was away & has been incredible! If I can be half the mum she is to me I’ll be happy!”

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