Helen Skelton reveals she was 'sick of the patronising looks' after split from Richie Myler

Helen Skelton has opened up about her split from her ex-husband, Richie Myler, with whom she shares her three children, Ernie, 11, Louis, nine, and Elsie, four.

The former Blue Peter star, 42, made the shock announcement that they had separated just four months after she welcomed her third child, in April 2022. 

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In November of that year, it was announced that Richie was expecting a child with his new girlfriend, Stephanie Thirkill, the daughter of Andrew Thirkill, the owner of the club Richie played for.

Talking to the Times, Helen said, reflecting on that time, while she was appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, that performing the number Mein Herr from the musical Cabaret, "struck a chord," adding that she was "sick of the patronising looks."

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During the dance, Helen mouthed the words: "You're better off without me," directly into the camera. "It struck a chord," she told the publication. "One of the dancers said, 'You did that for all of us, didn’t you?' I wanted to have my own narrative. I was sick of the patronising looks, the 'Ooh, how are you?' I didn’t have the capacity to say, 'I'm brilliant, how are you?' That's what the dance did." 

She added: "Strictly got me back on my feet. When I came out, I could look people in the eye."

The confession comes ahead of the release of her book, In My Stride, in which she speaks about 2022 being "the most nationally humiliating year".

Helen's shock announcement 

Helen shocked her fans when she revealed that she and Richie were ending their eight-year marriage with a short statement on Instagram.

She wrote at the time: "Very sad to say 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."

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Following the split, Helen and her three children moved in with Helen's parents, Janet and Richard, into their family home in Cumbria.

Helen gushed about how incredibly supportive her parents were throughout the big family change. 

"My parents are amazing. It's the easiest parenting time of my life because they're on hand all the time, doing loads for me. I'm pretty sure that grandparents keep this economy running!" she told Closer Magazine.