Gemma Atkinson shares sweet throwback photo of herself with her late dad as she raises a toast to him on Father's Day

Gemma Atkinson has paid a tribute to her late dad as she planned to raise a toast to him on Father's Day. The 37-year-old actress and broadcaster was just 17-year-old when David passed away from a heart attack.

The former Emmerdale and Hollyoaks actress shared a sweet throwback snap of herself and her father sharing a hug as they smiled for the camera. "And to my dad in the sky will raise a glass to you today," she wrote on her Instagram Stories.

Gemma, a presenter on Manchester-based Hits Radio, also shared a video clip of her daughter Mia watching the Disney film Moana in Spanish with her fiance Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Marquez who is from Bilbao in Spain.

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"Today's Spanish lesson Moana. She watches them in Spanish," she said proudly. Sharing an adorable montage of doting dad Gorka with Mia since she was born on July 4 2019 she wrote: "Happy Father’s Day! Thanks for everything @gorka_marquez."

Last year Gemma shared her pain in a moving Instagram post in which she said she still hasn't accepted her dad's death in 2002. "Nineteen years ago today my life changed with one phone call," she wrote alongside images of herself as a child with her dad.

"I still remember mum coming into my room in the middle of the night to tell me dad had died. He’d had a heart attack. Grief sucks. It’s difficult and different for everyone but something we all have to go through.

"One thing I know for sure is that the world keeps turning with or without us and time still passes." Gemma, who shot to fame as Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks in 2001, recalled how her loving and caring dad inspired her, and admitted that although she's learned to adjust