Ex-Emmerdale actress opens up about Only Fools and Horses dates with Cristiano Ronaldo

As the most-followed person on Instagram, a millionaire, and one of the most famous athletes in the world, it’s easy to follow the life of Cristiano Ronaldo on and off the soccer field. The Portuguese superstar has been dating Georgina Rodríguez since 2017, coming off his long-term relationship with supermodel Irina Shayk, who he split from in 2015. His successes, controversies, and love life over the years has been heavily documented in the media, but there’s one romance of his you might’ve forgotten about.

Reportedly, Ronaldo had a brief fling with former Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson in 2007. The celeb played the role of Carly Hope from 2015 to 2017 in the ITV soap, and was a series regular as Lisa Hunter in Hollyoaks.

According to a new report from The Daily Star, the 37-year-old English star spoke on what dating Ronaldo was like, and it actually sounds really low-key, surprisingly. When asked about their short-lived romance, Atkinson recalled:

"“We went to my house, drank cups of tea and watched Only Fools And Horses. Genuinely. I don’t know if he’s into it now but he seemed to enjoy it.”"

“It was really glamorous,” she added, sarcastically.

As for Atkinson’s love life today, she’s currently engaged to professional dancer and Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Marquez. The two welcomed their first child together, a baby girl named Mia, in 2019. She frequently shares photos of her cute family on her Instagram page. We haven’t seen her act in some time, though she’s been on our screens through presenter gigs, and up next, she’ll be hosting CBeebies’ series The Toddler Club.

Ronaldo and Atkinson’s fling might not have been too serious, but it’s still fun to think about what could’ve been. All these years later, now we wonder if they ever keep in touch!