Gemma Atkinson's three-year-old daughter Mia is having a ball watching her professional dancer dad, Gorka Marquez, perform on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing with celebrity partner, Helen Skelton.
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In our exclusive interview below, Gemma tells HELLO! how she and Mia are supporting the pair each week, the adorable way their daughter is taking after her dad and Mia's very cute Strictly crush! Plus, we hear about the family’s exciting Christmas plans.
WATCH: Gemma and Mia make their own Christmas paper
Actress, radio presenter and celebrity mum Gemma spoke to us for the Family Action Make Theirs Magic Campaign supported by the Fisher-Price Play Lab.
With her daughter Mia, the pair helped gift wrap some of the thousands of toys being donated by Fisher-Price® to be given to families around the UK who need a helping hand this year.
Read our chat with Gemma Atkinson here…
Gemma, you've been incredibly supportive of Gorka and Helen on Strictly…
Gorka and Helen have been amazing so far this year I'm so so proud of them. Helen is just wonderful, she's lovely, Mia absolutely loves them, although she does like Will Mellor as well, she’s got a little crush on Will Mellor.
But yes, I’m fingers crossed for everything for the final, I can't wait to see them, and I’ll be going down to support them. I think when Strictly starts, it’s the countdown to Christmas, especially in our household.
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Gemma's partner Gorka and his Strictly dance partner Helen Skelton
Does Mia like seeing her dad on the TV?
Mia loves seeing her dad on telly. She does miss him, but we’re lucky though in this day and age that we've got FaceTime and Zoom, so he calls every day, every hour of every day.
She loves seeing him on telly and she will definitely be a little dancer herself I think; the number of times we've had to re-watch the dances, I would say even I know the routines by now actually!
What is Christmas going to be like for you this year?
This Christmas we’re at my Mum’s on Christmas Day, which I love, and then hopefully we’ll get to go Spain between Christmas and New Year to see Gorka’s family, because Mia’s got her Abuelo and Abuela out there, Nana and Gran Gran here.
So yes, just a good old traditional family Christmas all-round really. I can't wait to be honest – too much food and not enough sleep, but you know, that's what we all love about Christmas!
Gemma, Mia and Gorka
Is Christmas a big deal in your household and who gets the most excited?
It's definitely a big family occasion for us at Christmas. We’re quite a big family. My sister has three children, she's married to an Italian, so he's got about 17 cousins, so it's a huge, huge deal.
It's probably myself and my sister who get the most excited and Gorka, my fiancé and Rob (my sister's husband) probably get the most fed up and annoyed because I'm one of them whereby I'll wake up and go, ‘Gorka, It’s Christmas Day, let’s get up!’
And he’s like, ‘It’s 5 o'clock, come on! And I'm like, ‘No let's go and open all the gifts!’ So yeah, definitely me and my sister Nina get the most excited.
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Is Mia in a nativity play this year and if so, will you be sharing any acting tips with her?
She's not doing a nativity this year, she's at pre-school and there's nothing planned, but next year when she goes to school, I would imagine she will be doing a nativity of some sort.
I would love to say I'd help her out with acting tips, but I think I was like donkey three or something like that in our nativity. I kind of just had to stand there with these fake ears and I think I just looked at my mum and dad the whole time with my finger in my mouth!
If it's a dancing show though, I'm sure she'd be great at that because obviously she's got a dad for dancing!
Mum Gemma and sweet Mia
Do you or Gorka also like playing with the toys that Mia receives from her family?
I think every parent at Christmas secretly gets toys that they can play with! Anything to do with hair and things like that, I will definitely be doing because I need to learn how to French plait.
So yes, we will definitely be getting involved in the toys, and I think our dogs Norman and Ollie will probably do their bit by chewing up all the wrapping paper.
Do you have any good Christmas hacks that you can share?
A good Christmas hack – make your own wrapping paper. It's cheaper, it's more fun, it's bonding time with your child and it's something to be proud of on Christmas Eve when you see it there under the tree thinking that's my work of art.
Gemma and Mia make wrapping paper
Do you make time to do creative activities with Mia and why is that important to you?
I always try and schedule time for me and Mia to play together, especially now that she's at pre-school. I just think it's really really important not only for our bonding time, but if I can do something that encourages her to play and learn at the same time it's a win-win.
I think all parents sometimes feel guilt that we're not spending enough time with our kids, and we think, 'Is our child going to be developing less than other child because their parents are more hands on?' But life sometimes gets in the way of time with your family, and everyone experiences that. Everyone has moments of guilt with that.
So doing something like the [gift wrapping ] activity we did today, working together as a team, was perfect. It meant I could get a job done and we both had fun together at the same time and importantly it would have helped Mia with her development of certain skills by helping her to think creatively.
The celeb mum and daughter are helping with the Fisher-Prince and Family Action campaign
What is the Family Action Make Theirs Magic campaign all about?
The Make There's Magic campaign is wonderful. Fisher-Price Play Lab have teamed up with Family Action for their annual Christmas toy appeal. They’re donating thousands of toys to the campaign so they can go on to families across the UK who could do with a helping hand this Christmas, because every child deserves to have toys.
Why are you supporting the campaign?
I'm supporting the Make Theirs Magic campaign because as a mum myself, I know the challenges that parents face when it comes to certain times of the year, and I just think every family could do with a helping hand especially at Christmas.
The fact that so many children across the UK don't necessarily get as many toys as others, it's great that the Make Theirs Magic campaign can help to even things out and I just think as an annual toy appeal, it's a wonderful positive thing to be involved in.
I can't wait to hear from the families who received these Fisher-Price toys that we helped to wrap this Christmas, and hopefully a lot more children will have a better Christmas because of this”.
The Family Action Make Theirs Magic Campaign supported by the Fisher-Price Play Lab.
As part of Make Theirs Magic, a new online hub has been launched which includes real-life stories, resources for families at Christmas and links on how to get involved or get more support at family-action.org.uk
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