Helen and Gorka appeared on It Takes Two (Picture: BBC)
Helen Skelton has revealed how her children react to her performances on Strictly Come Dancing.
On this year’s series of the BBC competition, the Countryfile presenter has been delighting the judges with her routines alongside professional dance partner Gorka Márquez.
Helen has three children with ex Richie Myler: Ernie, seven, Louis, five, and baby Elsie, who is nine months old.
The 39-year-old emotionally shared in a statement in April this year that she and rugby star Richie, 32, had split four months after welcoming their third child together and nine years after exchanging their vows.
Appearing on It Takes Two today, Helen revealed what the most important comments are following all of her performances – and they don’t come from judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke.
‘The only people’s scores that really, really matter, that you call at the end of your dance are your children, is that right?’ Rylan Clarke asked Helen.
She replied: ‘Yes! So my eldest son, doesn’t watch it, because he says “Mum I’ve seen you on the telly before,”‘ agreeing that he’s ‘too cool’ to watch her on Strictly.
‘Until he tells me that his friend Besty at school asks about the dance, he’s like, “Don’t talk about it, but what are you doing?”
Helen scored her first ten last weekend (Picture: PA)
‘The middle one repeats it, gives me the full debrief, likes to do the moonwalk, likes to know exactly what we’re doing, he comes to training and gives us feedback.
‘And obviously the baby doesn’t know!’
This comes after Helen recently admitted that she came into Strictly ‘battle-hardened’ after her split.
Speaking about her time on the ballroom floor, Helen admitted: ‘I came into this show quite battle-hardened.
The pair split after nine years (Picture:Karwai Tang/WireImage)
‘Strictly is probably quite overwhelming for a lot of people but for me, weirdly, I was actually in the best place to be in it.
‘Other people were worried about all the attention that comes with being on Strictly, or baring their souls on the telly, whereas I was ready for that.’
She continued to The Sun: ‘I love that we talk about mental health more now, but I’d love that we could talk about how people can address their mental health.
More: Trending
‘I’ve always seen my brain as being like a muscle — one which I need to exercise to keep my head in check.
‘So that’s what Strictly is doing for me, it really is. It’s the most brilliant, all-consuming thing to be a part of.’
Strictly Come Dancing returns tomorrow night at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Adorable!
