Helen Skelton praises Strictly Come Dancing for helping her after Richie Myler split left her ‘battle-hardened’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Helen admitted she started Strictly ‘battle-hardened’ (Picture: Getty / BBC / PA)

Helen Skelton has opened up about feeling ‘battle-hardened’ after her split from Richie Myler, praising Strictly Come Dancing for the way it helped her mentally.

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.

It comes after the 39-year-old 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.

Speaking about her time on the ballroom floor, Helen admitted: ‘I came into this show quite battle-hardened.

‘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.’

The pair split after nine years (Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)

‘I was actually in the best place to be in it,’ Helen admitted (Picture: PA)

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.

‘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.’

Helen labelled Strictly as ‘brilliant, all-consuming’ (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

The pair have stunned judges and audiences on the dancefloor (Picture: PA)

This comes after Helen admitted that she was initially reluctant to take to the Strictly dancefloor given everything she’s been through this year.

However, a friend of hers talked her round to the idea… and delivered an undeniably persuasive argument.

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‘I was talking to my best friend about it and I was like, “I’m not sure, there’s the kids and the press and it will be full-on,”’ Helen told The Telegraph.

‘And she just went, “What a t*t! You’re going to get paid to dance around with a fit guy, people are going to put make-up on you, and you’ve got to work. It’s not real life, is it? Why wouldn’t you do it?”’

Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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