Gemma Atkinson Fan Site

Gemma Atkinson is engaged to Birmingham City striker Marcus Bent after he proposed on one knee.

Danielle Lloyd, 23, accepted Bent’s proposal during a romantic trip to the Lake District.

The actress and model is now wearing a £83,000 diamond ring on her engagement finger.

A friend of the couple tells the Daily Star: ‘Gemma was thrilled when Marcus popped the question.

‘He really is the love of her life and she’s sure they will be together for ever. They are both very happy.’

The two first starting dating in 2006, while Gemma was still on the soap Hollyoaks.

They separated for several months in 2007, during which Bent, 30, was seen about with model Danielle Lloyd.

However, the couple were back together again by November 2007 just before Gemma flew to Australia to star in I’m A Celebrity.

Gemma’s engagement appears to be a change of heart for the young star, who claimed she didn’t want to be ‘tied down’ with an interview in OK! magazine earlier this year.

She said: ‘I’ve never been one of those women who’ve thought about marriage and kids.

‘I will get married but I don’t want to consider it until I’ve enjoyed my twenties and we’ve lived together for a while.’

Speaking of her love for the footballer, Atkinson said: ‘He’s like a rare diamond, once you’ve got them, you keep hold of them.

‘Marcus is very romantic – every day he does something nice for me. The other day we were staying at a hotel and Marcus checked out before me and wrote: ‘I love you’ on the mirror with soap.’

Earlier this year, Atkinson, 23,  sold her Bury home to buy a new house with Bent in Manchester.

“I’d be more than happy to be with him forever”, Gemma was quoted as saying.

“I’m in the process of moving in with Marcus at the minute although it’s quite a stressful time trying to juggle work with house moving too. We‘re hopefully moving in about six to eight weeks.”

“We’d been hoping to be in by now but with everything going on it’s been delayed. We’re hoping to get the keys before Christmas – I really don’t want to be living out of boxes while I’m doing panto”, she said.

Regarding marriage, the Hollyoaks babe revealed that she was waiting for her man to make the move.

“It is up to Marcus to propose to me because leap year has been and gone”, she stated. “I’ve always said that I’d like to get married by the age of 26 and have kids at 29 because they seem good ages to do it.”

“My mum was 32 when she had me and we have a cracking relationship. I’m more or less a step-mum as it is because Marcus has a lovely little girl”, she added