Go Gemma!

With the launch of her debut athleisure wear collection, we talk to Gemma Atkinson about life post-Strictly, her love of working out and how she’s helping to inspire a whole new generation of women to get fit and strong.

- Joanna Ebsworth

‘IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS OBSESSED WITH XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS,’ explains Gemma Atkinson on how she came to pick up her first pair of dumbbells at just 12 years old. ‘My sister’s then-boyfriend kept a set in her room. I went in there one day to borrow something, saw the dumbbells, and borrowed them instead. They were only 10kg each and I really struggled with them, doing 10 bicep curls every morning and every night before bed, but I did it because I wanted to look like Lucy Lawless who played Xena. Or Diane Youdale, aka Jet from Gladiators. Those were the two women I looked up to growing up.’

Two decades later, the tables have turned and it’s now 33-year-old actress and radio presenter Gemma who’s inspiring millions of women and girls to look and feel strong by hitting the weights. From wowing us every Saturday night with her powerful physique and performances on the most recent season of Strictly Come Dancing, to keeping her 600,000 Instagram followers updated on her workouts, Ms Atkinson is the very definition of fitspiration. And the fitspo just keeps coming on the set of our H&F cover shoot, as Gemma rocks the skimpiest of bikinis in front of the camera with the kind of empowered body confidence that comes from knowing you are in the best shape of your life – and it’s all a result of your own hard work and dedication. When Gemma later displays her physical prowess by hanging from steel bars, climbing ropes and holding pull-ups for seconds at a time so we can get the perfect shots for this month’s fashion story [page 74], the murmur of the phrase ‘girl crush’ can be heard more than once from the team.