Gemma Atkinson's tears as she says 'I'm not ready' amid personal eight-day countdown

Gemma Atkinson was left fighting tears as she spoke about a recent loss while also counting down to a personal milestone. The Hits Radio is no stranger to being open and honest with her online following.

That said, over the summer, Bury-born Gemma shared her heartache when she and her Strictly Come Dancing star fiancé Gorka Marquez said goodbye to one of their family dogs.

Gemma confirmed the upsetting news of Norman's death at the end of June by posting a moving video featuring pictures and clips of him from over the years with her and fellow dog Ollie, as well as Gorka and their two children - Mia, five, and one-year-old Thiago.

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During her latest social media video on Friday (November 8), animal lover Gemma spoke about her upcoming milestone birthday before revealing she was off to the Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary for which she is a president.

Speaking to the camera following her early morning gym session at her Greater Manchester home, the former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star said: "Finished. That was a quick 28 minutes done. I've got eight more days left in my thirties and then the era of 40 begins.

"40 years around the sun. Bl**dy hell, how lucky is that? I've been here on this earth for 40 years. Here's to another 40 more please, to anything up there."

She went on: "I'm going up to Bleakholt today as we're launching the shoebox appeal that we're doing for Christmas and I was thinking this morning about taking Norman's bed... I don't know." Her eyes starting filling with tears as she went on: "I still get upset talking about it. Clearly, I'm not ready to take his bed."

She cut off the video as she began to cry whilst also trying to laugh off her emotions. Gemma went on to caption the video: "That escalated [crying laughing emojis]. Apologies [face palm emoji]. Clearly I'm still not ready to part with Norman's bed," before adding a red heart emoji.

It comes after Gemma admitted she's feeling 'a little bit nervous' as she revealed another countdow, this time to her huge personal project. She is excitedly preparing for the release of her first beauty and skincare range. The mum-of-two revealed earlier this year that she would be branching out into a new area away from entertainment and her much-loved fitness with the new company recently being rebranded from Lil' Gems to Gem & Tonic.

On Wednesday (November 6), Gemma had an exciting update. In a video posted to her Instagram Story, Gemma, 39, said: "I'm so excited to be doing this countdown. Eight days to go until our Gem & Tonic website launches for your pre-orders."You'll be able to pre-order your products in literally eight days. I'm so excited. I'm a little bit nervous but I really hope you, first of all like the website.... But eight days to go."