Gemma Atkinson, 34, has shared the first photos of her growing stomach in a sweet post on her social media page. In the snap, Gemma’s pet dog is resting his head on her bump whilst she’s leaning on the sofa with her sweatshirt lifted up. Her pet pooch is seemingly guarding the star as she relaxed at home. Gemma captioned the sweet post: “Guarding his new pack member… Dogs are just wonderful.”
Fans flocked to comment on the heartwarming photo, as one fan wrote: “Doggy knows for sure…very sweet and protective.”
Others appeared to reminisce when their own dogs acted similarly to Gemma’s, as another person commented: “Yep just love this picture, my border collie did not leave my side until I gave birth to my littleman last year. Such loyal and loving animals. Congratulations again to you all.”
While a third person quipped: “Our dog knew I was pregnant before I did. I couldn’t go anywhere without him following me which wasn’t like him.”
The former Emmerdale actress is expecting her first baby with Strictly Come Dancing pro, Gorka Marquez, 28.
The happy couple met when Gemma appeared on the BBC series in 2017 and went on to confirm their relationship status on Valentine’s Day last year.
Gemma announced the exciting news of their arrival with a picture of their pet dogs, Ollie and Norman, with signposts around their necks confirming the pregnancy news.
One of them read: “Guess what… Mum’s pregnant!,” while the second sign said: “We’re going to be big brothers!”
The actress captioned the heartwarming snap: “And what amazing big brothers they will be! Myself & Gorks are beyond excited and happy and feel incredibly blessed to be meeting our new family member later this year. (sic)
“Baby Marquez!!! We love you loads already.”
Gorka also echoed the same sentiment, as he shared the same snap with a caption which read: “Thank you for the greatest gift in life.
“Myself and Gem are beyond thrilled to be welcoming our new family member later this year!”
He finished: “Baby Marquez… Norm and Ollie can’t wait to start their big brother duties.”
Celebrity pals rushed to comment on the celebratory news as Holly Willoughby gushed: “That’s such lovely news xxx,” while Striclty star Katya Jones, said: “Congratulations!!!! This is so exciting!!!!”
Meanwhile, the former Hollyoaks star recently shared a string of clips as she headed to a personal training session following news of her pregnancy.
The fitness star waved goodbye to more strenuous exercise as she opted for pregnancy-friendly workouts as she added she is “#training for baby”.
Another image showed Gemma with dumbbells in hand as she mocked trainer “evil Steve”.