Gemma Atkinson Fan Site

Gemma Atkinson and her footballer boyfriend have urged animal lovers to follow in their footsteps and adopt a monkey or an ape. Gemma and Marcus Bent, 30, went to visit the newest member of their family, chimpanzee Bryan, at Monkey World near Wool, Dorset.

Bryan was adopted by the couple after being rescued from Cancun, Mexico last year.

The five-year-old was being trained as a beach photographer’s prop, his teeth had been knocked out to stop him biting tourists and he was regularly beaten.

The former Hollyoaks actress and her boyfriend, who plays for Wigan Athletic, also threw their weight behind Monkey World’s rescue bid for Coco, an adult female chimpanzee who was stolen from the wild in Africa, smuggled into Mexico and is being used by the same beach photographer that owned Bryan.

Ms Atkinson said: “We have adopted Bryan, who was being kept by a beach photographer. We are delighted to help out. This is a brilliant cause that Jim (Monkey World co-founder Jim Cronin) started and we only hope that other people jump on board and adopt.

“It’s as little as £30 to adopt a primate at Monkey World for a year and to help possibly change an ape or monkey’s life. The next challenge is to get Coco back from Mexico, which we are actively supporting.”

Atkinson, who took part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, contacted staff at Monkey World last month after watching their plight on television.

The residents at the primate sanctuary star in Monkey Life, the world’s only soap opera about the lives of monkeys and apes, on Five.

Jim Cronin passed away on March 17 2007 and his legacy is carried on by his wife and co-founder of Monkey World Alison, who said: “We are indebted to Gemma and Marcus for supporting our rescue work and adopting Bryan. We desperately want to rescue Coco and give her an adoptive chimpanzee family. We hope they can help us do that.”

source: The Press Association

source: Daily Star UK

Gemma Atkinson escaped to Cuba for a beach holiday to recover from an energy-sapping walk along the Great Wall Of China.

The I’m A Celebrity babe joined singer Olivia Newton-John on the Great Wall to raise money for a £2.5million cancer treatment centre.

She took part in a 42-mile leg, lasting five days, of Olivia’s 142-mile Great Walk To Beijing.

But after raising thousands of pounds for charity she decided to splash the cash on a new bikini and a trip to Cuba with a female pal.

And she was soon turning heads on the beach as she soaked up the sun.

The former Hollyoaks beauty also paid a visit to the capital Havana. 

But Gemma, who does a lot of work for the Teenage Cancer Trust, reckons it won’t be long before she’s pulling on her hiking boots again.

She’s got the bug for marathon walks and is even thinking of taking on a climb because the exercise has done wonders for her figure.

Gemma said: “This has actually really got me into hiking.

“I have toned up and lost weight, so now I want to do Everest!”

Gemma suffered extreme conditions on the China trek.

She said: “It’s been freezing – we even had a snow blizzard – and we have been camping in remote villages along the route, hanging out with the locals.”

And she needed the trip to Cuba after missing out on home comforts during her trip.

“I have toned up and lost weight, so now I want to do Everest”

She explained: “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to take a long relaxing soak in a bath surrounded by scented candles at the end of each day.

“It was more like tents outside than five- star hotels!”

And there was one nightmare moment she hopes to forget. 

She recalled: “I woke up to a scene from The Exorcist in the middle of the night as my tent buddy had sickness and diarrhoea.

“I then had to get up at 5am, when it was pitch black and freezing, to give her some space!

“Luckily, I had learned to make a fire in the jungle, so I got the camp fire going with the villagers. 

“Then we all sat round for four hours until the rest of the camp woke up.”

Gemma admitted she was missing her footballer lover Marcus Bent, 29, a striker with Premier League Wigan.

And she is looking forward to getting to grips with him when the season has finished.

But she won’t be getting stuck into any Chinese food for a while – because she definitely got a bit tired of the Oriental  nosh.

She said: “I have a Chinese takeaway every Sunday but I think I will be giving that a rest for a while!”