Helen Skelton’s rugby star husband is dating £175m boss’s daughter
TV star Helen Skelton’s rugby ace husband is in a new relationship after their shock split – with the daughter of his club’s president.
England player Richie Myler, 31, is dating businesswoman Stephanie Thirkill, 32.
Details of their relationship emerged days after BBC Countryfile presenter Miss Skelton, 38, revealed she had separated from Myler after more than eight years of marriage.
Miss Thirkill’s tycoon father Andrew Thirkill – worth an estimated £175million – is president of Super League side Leeds Rhinos. The new couple are reported to have gone on holiday together after Myler’s marriage split was made public by Miss Skelton in an online post last week.
Miss Skelton and Myler have three children, with their daughter born just four months ago.
A source close to them said last night: ‘Helen is absolutely devastated. Now she is contemplating life without him while he has moved on with his new partner.
‘Richie is insisting there was no crossover – that he began the romance with Stephanie after their marriage collapsed, but Helen feels let down. They are still married and their baby is four months old.’
The insider told MailOnline: ‘She thought their marriage was safe and secure and is totally shocked by what’s happened.’ Miss Skelabout ton wrote on Instagram last week: ‘Very sad to say that Richie and I are no longer a couple. He has left the family home. We will be doing our best to co-parent our small children.’ Myler has not spoken the separation. Miss Thirkill is a director of two companies run by her father – Age Partnership and Advise Wise.
Miss Skelton, who gained fame as a Blue Peter presenter from 2008 to 2013, gave birth to Elsie Kate in late December.
The couple also have sons Ernie, six, and Louis, five.
She wed scrum-half Myler, who has played for England seven times, in December 2013.
The couple moved into a fourbedroom cottage in Yorkshire in February 2020 after relocating from France where he played for top side Catalans Dragons. Leedsborn Mr Thirkill, 63, was an apprentice bricklayer before setting up a series of companies.
He quit the building industry after realising that he did not want to work outside in harsh winters and got a job as a clerk and later a sales rep at the Yorkshire Post newspaper. In 1981, Mr Thirkill started his own advertising agency, which he sold in 1988 for £2.7million. His wealth soared after he launched Age Partnership in 2004.
The company specialises in equity release for home owners aged 55 and over. It is said to be the largest provider of the service in the UK.
‘He insists there was no crossover’