'I had a Toblerone nearly every day': Gemma Atkinson let diet slip on Strictly

Gemma Atkinson would eat a Toblerone "nearly every day" during her \'Strictly Come Dancing\' stint.

The former \'Emmerdale\' actress - a self-confessed gym buddy - has opened up about her weight gain whilst competing on the BBC One Latin and ballroom show in 2017.

Despite the "intense" training, she put on "six or seven pounds", as fast food and sweet treats - such as the nutty chocolate bar - were "quick and easy" to grab and eat on the go.

Speaking on the Women\'s Health \'Going for Goal\' podcast, Gemma said: "I think I\'m the only contestant who gained weight during \'Strictly\' and I always say that openly because the training is hard, it\'s intense, but because I train differently anyway, my body kind of went backwards a bit and the main reason was because I let me diet slip massively on \'Strictly\'.

"We trained above the Cadbury\'s shop, so I had a Toblerone nearly every day, fast food, anything that was just quick and easy really...I think I put on about six or seven pounds by the end of it."

The actress - who has 13-month-old daughter Mia with \'Strictly\' professional Gorka Marquez - also revealed she was trolled on Instagram by a man who told her she was fat when she was on \'Hollyoaks\'.

The blonde beauty - who rose to fame playing Lisa Hunter on the Channel 4 soap in 2001 - said: "For \'Hollyoaks\' turning 25 years old, they\'ve been re-running some episodes, and they\'ve had a week of my episodes, and people have actually DM\'d me, a guy DM\'d me, and he said \'wow, I never realised at the time, but you were fat in \'Hollyoaks\' weren\'t you\'? I went back to him and I said \'well, I was 15, so I was chubbier than what I am now, but please, please don\'t let your daughter think that that\'s your idea of fat ... she will have problems for the rest of her life if that\'s the case\'."

Listen to the full Gemma Atkinson interview on the Women\'s Health \'Going for Goal\' podcast, available now via podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/going-for-goal