World Cup legend Cristiano Ronaldo once dated Hollyoaks star and fans will be floored
The World Cup superstar once enjoyed dates with a soap actress which included watching Only Fools and Horses
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo once dated a famous soap star while playing for Manchester United.
The 41-year-old, dubbed one of the best footballers in the world, will be hoping to lead his national team through to the World Cup quarter-finals as they take on Spain at The Dallas Stadium on Monday evening (July 6).
Away from scoring goals, Ronaldo is engaged to former sales assistant Georgina Rodriguez after the pair met in 2016 while she was working at a Gucci store in Madrid. But before settling down into family life, Ronaldo was linked to Hollyoaks icon Gemma Atkinson.
The 41-year-old actress starred as Lisa Hunter on Channel 4 show Hollyoaks for four years before quitting in 2005.
She later played Carly Hope in ITV’s Emmerdale from 2015 to 2017, before briefly reprising her Hollyoaks role in 2022.
Gemma and Al-Nassr striker Ronaldo reportedly dated in 2007, during his first stint at Manchester United.
The actress previously gave insight into her brief connection with Ronaldo on Hits Radio Manchester, revealing that their dates were very low-key despite his global fame.
“We went to my house, drank cups of tea and watched Only Fools And Horses,” she admitted. “Genuinely! I don’t know if he’s into it now, but he seemed to enjoy it.”
The former Strictly star also revealed that she had been offered a great deal of money to talk about their relationship. “When we did split up, I got offered so much money to speak about him,” she confessed. “And I didn’t want that.”
Gemma is now happily settled down with her fiance and professional dancer Gorka Márquez, 35, after the pair met on Strictly in 2017.
Although Gemma was partnered with Aljaž Škorjanec and Gorka was paired with Alexandra Burke, the two immediately hit it off behind the scenes and began dating after the show’s live tour concluded in 2018.
They have been engaged since Valentine’s Day in 2021 and share two children together, Mia and Thiago.
Away from her acting career, Gemma presents the Gemma Atkinson and Mike Toolan Show on Hits Radio every weekday afternoon from 4pm, has launched her own skincare business, Gem and Tonic, and boasts over 2 million Instagram followers.
She also presents the podcast Lost In Translation with Gorka, who recently announced his exit from Strictly after 10 years.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo and Georgina have been engaged since August 2025 and are parents to six children. His first son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, 16, was born on 17 June 2010 in the United States.
In June 2017, it was revealed that he had fathered twins via a surrogate mother in America, nine–year–old Eva and Matteo.
Cristiano and Georgina pictured with their five children (Image: Cristiano Ronaldo Instagram)A month later, Ronaldo confirmed in an interview that he and Georgina were expecting their first baby together, with daughter Alana, eight, arriving in November 2017.
In October 2021, the couple confirmed that they were expecting twins, but tragically, they lost their son, Angel, shortly after his birth in April 2022. They later revealed that they had named their baby daughter Bella Esmeralda.
Georgina, born in Argentina and raised in Spain, is a model, trained dancer, and businesswoman who has become a star in her own right after her Netflix docu-series “I Am Georgina” became an instant success.
She is also a social media influencer with more than 74 million followers on Instagram, which is a drop in the ocean compared to her partner, as Ronaldo remains the most followed person on the platform with 671 million followers.
