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Strictly's Gemma Atkinson admits working mum struggles as she vows to never dance with partner Gorka again

The couple share daughter Mia, who was born in July

gemma gorka serious
Diane Shipley
Senior Online Writer
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Celebrities will be filming the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special this week, and former contestant Gemma Atkinson admitted on Sunday that she has been stressing out about the prospect. The actress shared a series of videos to her Instagram stories which showed her in a rehearsal room with partner Gorka Marquez, with whom she will be dancing on the show for the first time, despite the couple having met on the show in 2017.

gorkagemmalaughingawards© Photo: WENN

Gemma and Gorka share baby Mia, who was born on 4 July

The short clips began with a video of Gemma talking to the camera, which she introduced by saying: "Final, final rehearsal for the Christmas special, I've been up thirteen and a half hours." She laughed as she continued: "So I don't know the steps because Mia woke me up, Mia was nocturnal." She then panned the camera to Gorka, who responded: "I get that you're tired…" "Tired? I'm exhausted," Gemma responded, although her statement was undermined somewhat by her next video, which showed the fitness fanatic doing a series of jumps and kicks for the camera.

MORE: Strictly's Gorka Marquez sparks wedding rumours after he's spotted wearing band

gemmaatkinsoninsta© Photo: Instagram

Gemma shared that she was sleep-deprived as she rehearsed for the Strictly Christmas special 

The 35-year-old then went on to explain to her fans that, contrary to what some of them had feared, she and Gorka are still making their popular vlogs. However, the duo hasn't been able to upload one recently because they have spent so little time together with Gemma at home in Greater Manchester and Gorka back and forth to London for Strictly. "We've only been together two days in the last few weeks," Gemma revealed, as Gorka nodded.

READ: Strictly Come Dancing star Neil Jones pays heartfelt tribute to Alex Scott

The couple did confirm, however, that they had been filming as many behind-the-scenes glimpses of their rehearsals as possible, which they plan to upload once the programme has aired on Christmas Day. Gemma said: "We've been doing a lot of filming about our rehearsals, behind the scenes." She then went on to joke: "I haven't killed him yet, although I never want to dance with him again."

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