'I went into survival mode-I was breaking down'

Actress Helen Flanagan opens up about tackling her mental health and putting the kids first

- MITYA UNDERWOOD

As she poses with her three children by the tranquil Merseyside coast in what is possibly her most candid interview ever, it’s obvious actress Helen Flanagan has come a long way since the “very scary” psychosis episode she thought might rob her of everything she holds dear.

Helen’s nightmare began after what looked like a dream New Year’s holiday to Bali with her three kids – Matilda, eight, Delilah, five, and three-year-old Charlie. But despite posting a stream of smiley photos to social media, her reality was actually very different.

“My kids weren’t with me on Christmas Day because I like to be really fair with my ex, and I know it sounds so silly because it was only one day, but it hit me really hard,” she says. “The plan was for me to take them to Bali for New Year instead, and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t feel myself, I was struggling. I felt terrible when I got back, I was crying all the time, I felt so low.”

The former Coronation Street star, 33, who gets very emotional during various points in our chat, admits that she now realises she was “mentally and physically breaking down” and that she had unresolved trauma – a lot of it down to her 2022 break-up with footballer Scott Sinclair, who she was engaged to for 13 years and is the father of her children.