Gorka Marquez used to listen to his fiancee Gemma Atkinson’s radio show.
Gorka Marquez would listen to his now-fiancee Gemma Atkinson on the radio
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ pro would tune into the former ‘Hollyoaks’ star, 38, - with who he is now due to wed after welcoming four-year-old daughter Mia and son Thiago, who was born earlier this month - whenever he appeared on the airwaves on Key 103 with Mike Toolan to “get her know her before”.
The 32 -year-old dancer told Alex Legouix on the ‘Show On The Road’ podcast: "My beautiful fiance works on the radio. When I met her for the first time, she used to do the breakfast show and even before we were together I used to listen to the radio every morning.
"I used to go to the gym at six in the morning and put the radio on and just listen to her because it was a way to get to know her more. And I think that's why we work so well because we became friends before partners, and she's my best friend."
Gorka - who was partnered with 'X Factor' winner Alexandra Burke, 34, in 2017 whilst Gemma competed alongside Aljaz Skorjanec, 33, but they got together during the show’s tour that year - gushed about Manchester is now “home” after leaving London and his native Bilbao in Spain.
He said: "It was easy to move [to Manchester] because I didn't have anybody in London. I know how much she loves Manchester. She's such a Manchester girl.
"She loves where she's from, and she's very proud of it. It actually makes me fall more in love with her because she's proud of where she's from and she doesn't deny she's from Manchester. I think when you find happiness with who you really are you will make everybody around you happy."
Gorka also gushed about his wee girl and how he wants to be a good “example” to her.
He said: "I want to be an example for my daughter - I don't want her to think if she doesn't win, it's not good. You know? To be able to do what she loves to do should be enough."
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