HELEN DESERVES TO HAVE FUN AGAIN
You’ve got to admire Helen Skelton. In April, she was left ‘bewildered’ and ‘totally shocked’ after her husband of eight years, Richie Myler, 32, announced their marriage was over.
Having just given birth to their third child four months earlier, she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.
Then, fast forward a few weeks, and he’s already in a new relationship with the daughter of his Leeds Rhinos rugby league boss. (So Richie, what first attracted you to £175m heiress Stephanie Thirkill?)
Helen, 39, would be entirely forgiven for wanting to lock herself in the house and only venture out in 2025.
Instead, the Countryfile star’s roped in extra childcare for Ernie, seven, Louis, five and eight-month-old baby Elsie, and has signed up for the biggest show on television, Strictly Come Dancing.
Good for her. Especially as her estranged husband is busy posting declarations of love for his new squeeze all over social media. I mean, how uncool is that?
As Strictly launched, and she was paired with the lovely Gorka Márquez, Helen said she needed a bit of fun in her life. ‘It was a good chance for my family to see me smiling,’ she explained.
So let’s hope that all the glitter and sequins, plus a few golden spray tans, can help to cheer her right up. When I met up with the former Blue Peter presenter at the press launch in August she’d only trained for ONE day but already looked as though she was loving throwing herself into something completely new.
The bookies have installed Helen as one of the early favourites to lift the glitterball. I just hope she gets to Blackpool, because her family is from the North West and it would mean the world to her to dance there. She deserves it.