The pregnant actress and radio presenter was accused of 'playing into society's gender stereotypes' over the styles and colours used in the children's rooms.....

A peeved Gemma Atkinson begged 'give me strength' after a follower questioned her choice of décor in her little girl and unborn son's new bedrooms.

In a now-expired Instagram story, Gemma, 38, had recorded a gorgeous vid of the amazing new rooms she'd had professionally painted for her little girl Mia, 3, and her soon-to-be-born baby boy.

• Impossible to hide it any longer! Gemma's cute pregnancy announcement

She and her fiancé, Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Marquez, have been prepping their home and making some changes ahead of welcoming their new baby, and she was keen to show her followers what they had done with the children's bedrooms.

'I don't want her to think she's been turfed out'

'Big day today... Mia's moving into her big bedroom!' she said in the video, before going on to explain further:

'Well, she's not moving into it today but we're decorating it today because I want to get her into her big room before little man comes. Obviously, he'll be in our room for a little bit but then he'll go in her room and I don't want her to think she's been turfed out.'

The finished result

Gemma later returned to her Insta Stories to say how she had hired a mural painter to decorate Mia's room. She then proudly showed off the results.

'The rooms are finished!' she said. 'Mia's 'big girl' room is done and little man's nursery is painted. Just need to get final bits of furniture down from the loft. We're reusing Mia's old cot and drawers.'

She then videoed inside Mia's gorgeous room so her followers could see the beautiful mural on the wall.

It consisted of a sign reading 'Mia's Magic Fairy Forest' as well as beautifully detailed drawings of a fairy and unicorn.

(We wonder if it was based on THIS unicorn?)

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A post shared by Gemma Atkinson (@glouiseatkinson)

She then showed her son's room which was painted blue with murals of animals.

But it seems not everyone was a fan of the lovely work of art...

What happened next?

Gemma returned to Insta on Thursday to say that she had received quite a negative message about the children's rooms – and shared its contents.

Oooh! What did it say?

A follower had messaged Gemma saying:

'Not saying this in a judgy way because I think it's absolutely beautiful and I'm sure you've chosen something you know she will love...'

(you can feel the BUT coming, right?)

(and here it is...)

'But it really plays into society's gender stereotypes for girls, doesn't it? Pink, fairies, rainbows, pretty things... And blue for a boy.'

Eeek! What did Gemma say?

Although 'baffled', Gemma replied in a matter-of-fact fashion, and made it quite clear that the choice of colours and themes had nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with her personal taste for her little boy's room, and what Mia had asked for in hers.

'I've never been into pink!'

'We didn't choose Mia's room. She did,' she said. 'She told the painter all [of] her favourite colours & [the] characters she wanted. I designed the nursery with animals which I love & blue is my favourite colours. Always has been because it reminds me of the ocean.'

'I've actually never been into pink,' she continued. 'It doesn't mean I'm going against a stereotype or I want to be a boy or that I'm anti 'girl colours'. It simply means that my favourite colour is blue and not pink.'

'Give me strength!'

Gemma concluded her post with: 'Jesus Christ give me strength today' and a line of laughing emojis.

Later, in a brill 'gotcha' move, she posted a video of her little girls scooters – one pink, one blue and laughingly said:

'I don't know what to do now... Oh cr*p. Should I say you can't go on this one, this one's for your brother only and this is for you?'

We love it! 🤣🤣

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A post shared by 𝗚𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗭 (@gorka_marquez)

A week of web woes

It's been a bit of an up and down week for Gemma and Gorka on social media – we reported how her gorgeous holiday snaps had won her a ton of praise for her refreshing honesty about how pregnancy had changed her body, but how she would not let it stop her wearing a bikini ( and how fab did she look?) . Then, just a couple of days later, Gorka took to Insta to reveal that his images from the same break had been branded 'too violent' by Instagram and taken down! Whaaaat?!

(Meanwhile, if you are planning on decorating your daughter's room to take her from a nursery to a 'big girl's room' like Gemma has done for Mia, we've got some amazing, purse-friendly ideas here that are sure to please both you and your little one! )

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