By Laura Sutcliffe

Copyright hellomagazine

Gemma Atkinson is a super busy, working mother, and the juggle is real. The former Strictly Come Dancing star, who is engaged to dancer Gorka Marquez, may be here, there, and everywhere, but looking good is still important to her. HELLO! sat down with the former Hollywoaks actress, who gave us the lowdown on ageing, parenting, low-key date nights, and her new beauty business venture.

Gemma’s scaled-back beauty routine

Skin is so important to the mother of two to daughter Mia, six, and son Thiago, three. “I love a good cleanser in the morning, and I like to do a scrub maybe once a week,” she explains. “I use my Gem & Tonic moisturiser and that’s it. I also have a micro needling facial every six weeks, too.”

Red Light Therapy is widely considered THE anti-ageing tool of the moment, and Gemma is a big fan. “It seems that everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon with it, but I genuinely love mine. I have one for my face and one for my head for my hair – it’s by Current Body. I pop it on while I’m cleaning! It’s brilliant.”

Speaking about her new beauty brand, the 40-year-old is so excited about the range, which is cleverly called Gem & Tonic, and mixes science with crystals and nature. “It’s been created for busy women on the go. As I’ve got older, the time I spend on my beauty regime has become less and less because I just haven’t got the time, so I wanted to create something which gives busy women like ourselves the opportunity to still feel and look great but on a smaller time scale.”

Going makeup-free

Hits Radio host Gemma admits she enjoys rocking a bare face “all the time” these days. “I love it,” she admits. “That’s the joy of working on the radio. Obviously, though, if I’m at a shoot or at an award ceremony, I always get someone to do my makeup. But the first thing I do when I get back is take it all off straight away.”

We’ve seen an influx of celebrities who are going makeup-free, and Gemma loves to see it. “I think Pamela Anderson is proving to everyone how liberating it is, and Alicia Keys. They both look amazing.”

Gemma on injectables

Currently, Gemma is trying not to dabble in aesthetics. “I’m trying my hardest to avoid any kind of injectables and stuff in my face, she reveals. “I never say never,” she adds, “I could get to my 50s and be like, ‘I do need a bit of sprinkling of Botox’ but I’m kind of pro-ageing because the alternative to ageing is being dead.”

She adds: “I feel like I’ve got kids now, and I’m trying to think how I would’ve reacted if my mum had come home from work one day with a different face and bigger lips. But, I’ve got friends who have it done and they look incredible.”

The mum juggles

Gemma tries to be as calm as possible when parenting her two children. “I don’t put too much pressure on myself for everything to be perfect. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done a school run in a baseball cap and trackies, because my hair hasn’t been washed, but I think the kids are dressed, and they’re fine,” she refreshingly admits.

Gemma also likes to prioritise self-care. “Sometimes, it’s a case of, ‘Can I clean the house so I can get my workout in?’ and I always prioritise the workout, because that’s what’s going to make me feel better, mentally and physically.”

Showing how down-to-earth she is, the former Emmerdale star adds: “I think expecting everything to be perfect, one hundred per cent of the time, with or without kids is challenging, but I think without kids it’s just about taking the pressure off yourself and doing what you can with the resources you have.”

Motherhood is something that Gemma holds close to her heart. “I love seeing their little personalities develop. I love seeing everything again through their eyes. At the weekend, Mia wanted to watch the film Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, and I watched it with her, and I was reliving my childhood by doing so.”

40 and fabulous

Gemma turned 40 last year and is definitely loving her fourth decade.”I feel like you have a newfound confidence in your decision-making when you turn 40, and how you feel about everything,” she muses.

Date nights with Gorka

Gemma and her fiancé, Gorka, love staying in rather than going out. “My mum and sister are so good at helping with the kids, and it does take a village, but even if we have a child-free night, the most we would do is go to the cinema, both wearing our comfy trackies, with Pick n Mix, then just head back home!”

She romantically adds, “We relish just being home together doing mundane stuff. It’s great to be comfortable that you don’t actually have to go out anywhere.”