The one lesson I’ve learned from life Angela Scanlon

AngelA ScAnlon, 37, is a TV presenter on BBc’s The one Show and BBc Two’s Your Home Made Perfect. She lives in north london with her husband, Roy Horgan, 42, and their daughter Ruby, three.

ASKING FOR HELP ISN’T A WEAKNESS

Living in London during lockdown means i have been separated from my family in ireland. it’s the longest period i’ve ever been away from them and things are, of course, already much trickier than usual. My husband, Roy, and i are literally tag-team parenting.

i’ve had to draw on one of the biggest lessons i learned during motherhood — to ask for help.

i was so reluctant to do that when my daughter Ruby was born three years ago, even when i realised that i couldn’t do everything myself. it made me feel wildly vulnerable and incapable because i was so used to getting things done. Suddenly i was a mess.

no one can prepare you for becoming a mother. i have a ton of nieces and nephews and genuinely thought i knew what was coming, but it’s completely different. There is no manual you get given when leaving the hospital.

Motherhood is a huge gear change. So much of my identity was tied to my career — having a baby and taking time off work meant i didn’t know who the hell i was any more.

After i gave birth, my returning Tv presenting role with Dara O’Briain on Robot Wars fell through. That felt devastating. But i looked down at this little human i had pushed out and i thought, ‘OK, you know what, i can survive.’

i ended up going back to work earlier than i’d hoped, on a different project. Just 12 weeks after giving birth i started presenting Your Home Made Perfect. i was like a deer in the headlights, fuelled by caffeine and suffering insomnia.

Often i would beat myself up if i had to travel for work or if i wasn’t around for bedtime. But i learned to ask for help — and to take it when it was offered. That isn’t being weak, it’s human.

it’s a strength to understand when you need support, not a weakness. And you have to offer help in return, too, because none of us can do it all on our own.

AngelA ScAnlon is the ambassador of olay’s brand new collagen Peptide24 collection in the UK and Ireland.