Gemma Atkinson has taken her fans along with her after welcoming children Mia and Thiago into the world, frequently sharing insights into her life as a mum-of-two alongside fiance Gorka Marquez.
In her latest post, the former Strictly finalist shared a stunning black-and-white photo of her two children as they posed while on the sofa. Mia was one proud big sister as she held her baby brother from behind and the duo both had the biggest smiles on their faces, with Thiago even giggling during the sweet interaction.
In a sweet caption, Gemma shared what her hopes for her two children are, and it was incredibly personal. "I never want Mia and Tio growing up making their mistakes and thinking 'Mum & Papa are gonna kill me'," she revealed. "When they make mistakes I hope they think 'ring mum and Papa, they'll know what to do'."
Gorka appeared to back her in the comments as the professional dancer shared a pair of heart emojis, and the couple's fans were quick to weigh in with messages of support.
One penned: "My parents philosophy. My dad once said to me after I had a fail with my first media venture and owed cash to the bank, 'we're your parents, we're here to help, never be ashamed of a mistake'. Miss that fella! Love this," and a second added: "We always told our two , you can tell us anything , wherever you are and whenever you need us we will be there. 37 & 29 both married, but the same is true now."
A third noted: "100% agree, this is what my parents did and I hope my daughter feels the same," while a fourth posted: "I have 4 aged between 13-20 and I've always told mine, whatever happens always tell me, don't be ashamed or embarrassed as I can guarantee I've probably done worse. Then we all have a laugh."
Gemma has never held back with how she feels and earlier in the month she opened up about her fears of her children being bullied as they grew older. "Jokes aside though genuinely I think about it most days [especially] with Mia as she's so sensitive," she said. "When I found out we were having a boy one of my first thoughts was, well at least lads when they fall out usually just have a scrap then it's all forgotten about.
"Girls can be manipulative can't they in that they say horrible things to each other. In my experience, typical bullies are usually having a hard time at home so half of you feels for them. Christ it's a [mine] field isn't it? No one warns you of this before being a parent," the Emmerdale star wrote on her Instagram Stories."
Speaking to HELLO! about how Gemma's paretning style would help her children, parenting expert Oona Alexander, who has helped families for 30 years, shared: "Children need to know that their parents are on their side, no matter what. By being your child's champion you are most likely to bring the best out of them and help them make wise choices.
"If your child has made an error of judgement one thing you can say is, 'I know you wouldn’t have done that if you had fully understood [XYZ impact] or… if you hadn't felt… [XYZ strong feeling].' This lets them know that while whatever they did wasn’t a wise action, you understand why it happened. We all make mistakes - why would we judge children by higher standards than ourselves? Children thrive and behave well when they feel seen, heard, loved and understood - particularly by their parents."
Back in 2017, before she had even met Gorka, the star shared her hopes for a future daughter. "All the women in my family are big, strong Amazonian types. I love it, it's great. If I had a daughter, I'd want to her to feel proud and powerful about her physique," she revealed to The Sun.
READ: Strictly's Gemma Atkinson reveals major change that will happen after marrying Gorka Marquez
LOOK: Gemma Atkinson's daughter Mia is her mum's twin in adorable new photo
The 39-year-old added that she also struggled with her image after a breakup, but she learned to learn to love her athletic body – something she had hoped to pass down to her children. "I love feeling strong and athletic, and that's how training with weights makes me feel," Gemma said.