Your carriage awaits: Birthday girl Gemma Atkinson looks blooming gorgeous as she leaves her party in a rickshaw

By GEORGINA LITTLEJOHN

Mahiki, please driver! Gemma Atkinson and her friends jump in a rickshaw and head onto a nightclub to continue her birthday celebrations


For someone who was always grabbing the headlines, we've not seen much of Gemma Atkinson for a few months.

So it was nice to see her in front of the cameras once again as she celebrated her 26th birthday in London last night.

The actress looked on top of the world as she and some friends left the Cafe De Paris nightclub.

But instead of opting for a mini or black cab, they jumped into a rickshaw for the short ride to the Mahiki nightclub where they continued the celebration.

Gemma, whose actually birthday is tomorrow, looked beautiful and radiant and like she was having a great night with her friends.

She wore a short, strapless sequinned dress that showed off her curvaceous figure perfectly, even if she might have been a little cold.


Blooming: Gemma clutched a pretty bunch of white roses and a Harrods bag as she and her pals left the Cafe De Paris


But despite her daring dress, the days of Gemma flaunting her curves for the cameras, deliberately at least, are long behind her.

Gemma, who shot to fame in 2001 as Lisa Hunter on Hollyoaks, launched a career as a successful glamour model in 2006.

Although she never went topless, she modelled for men's magazines FHM, Loaded, Zoo and Nuts, but last year she turned her back on it all to focus on her acting.


Sparkly: Gemma showed off her enviable figure in a short sequinned dress


Since then, she has started to carve out a successful acting career, and made her West End debut in Calendar Girls last year and was the only cast member to keep her clothes on.

She has also starred in four feature films, and last month finished a two-month run as one of the main characters in This Is How It Goes at the King's Head theatre in Islington, a Neil LaBute play set in small town America about an interracial love triangle.

Of her modeling past Atkinson has said, 'I did bikini stuff but I didn't do topless - even though I was asked to so many times. My agent told me once you've done that, you can't go back, so you're best to either stop or go full out with it.

'I took the decision to stop. It's very tempting as it is ridiculous money but you need to think long-term. And as far as the lads' mags are concerned, I don't think I will be doing any in the future.'



Birthday girl: Gemma looks like she's having a great birthday as she heads off to another nightclub


source: dailymail