"Strictly Reminds Me Of Blue Peter!"

After a tough year, Helen Skelton is ending 2022 on a high by taking part in Strictly. Here, she reflects on embracing a new adventure

-  KIRSTY NUTKINS

While some past contestants of Strictly Come Dancing have felt a little awkward donning tight-fitting, sequin-clad outfits and fake tan, Helen Skelton says she is enjoying every minute of her glamorous makeover on the 20th series.

In fact, it was the promise of such a dramatic transformation that pushed her to take part.

"It was definitely appealing," smiles the 39-year-old Countryfile and former Blue Peter presenter. "I have three children under seven, a very energetic dog and have lived in a house renovation for the best part of three years, so I was like, *Strictly-fy me up, please!""

Helen's decision to take on a new challenge has no doubt been influenced, too, by the incredibly difficult year she's faced. In April, she announced that she and her husband of eight years, Rugby League player Richie Myler (32), had split up -just three months after welcoming their youngest child, baby daughter Elsie. As well as Elsie, they share two sons, Ernie, seven, and Louis, five. Richie is now in a new relationship with Stephanie Thirkill, daughter of the multi-millionaire president of the Leeds Rhinos club he plays for.

Helen, who was born in Cumbria and now lives on the outskirts of Leeds, has been fiercely private about their break-up since her announcement on social media, but she does admit that her family have been very encouraging of her decision to take part in a feel-good show like Strictly.