Helen Skelton, 43, showed off her physique in a red swimsuit as she shared a series of photos from her family summer holiday in Cornwall on Tuesday, admitting she wishes "everything was a bit perkier and a bit easier."
The Morning Live presenter wore a plunging red one-piece with denim shorts in the Instagram pictures, taken during a break that also included mountain biking, kayaking and swimming.
Known for her active lifestyle, Skelton has admitted she struggles to sit still. Speaking to Closer about entering her 40s, she said she views the decade as a privilege despite wishing she felt firmer. "I wish everything was a bit perkier and a bit easier, but it's not. We are where we are and I'm grateful," she said.
Training for the Great North Run
Skelton is currently training three times a week for the Great North Run, which takes place in September. But she said she does not always rely on lengthy workout sessions, instead fitting exercise in when she can.
"For me, it's the little things, like doing 20 squats while you're waiting for the kettle to boil. I enjoy exercise and I enjoy the feeling afterwards, but it's not always a lot," she explained.
She added that she exercises for her mental health as much as her physical health. "We spend so long acknowledging it's important to look after your mental health, but we don't spend so many conversations saying how you do that," she said.
Life after her marriage to Richie Myler
Skelton shares three children, Ernie, 11, Louis, eight, and Elsie, three, with her ex-husband Richie Myler. Last month she opened up about the humiliation she felt during the public breakdown of her marriage, saying her mantra was to "get up and get on with it" and that she could not bear the "patronising looks" she received after the split.
Skelton's response was to appear on Strictly Come Dancing as a celebrity contestant just seven months after Myler left her. Before the BBC dance show began, she told The Times that dealing with gossip in her "tiny community" had felt humiliating "because of where I'm from," adding that she disliked walking down the street knowing people were aware of details from her past.
She said her father, dairy farmer Richard, would hear talk about her at his local golf club, while "Susan from the meat counter at Sainsbury's" would ask about her love life whenever she went in to do her food shop. Her second-place finish on Strictly was widely seen as a triumph, showing the public, and Myler, that she was thriving without him.
Her 'revenge dance' on Strictly
One of Skelton's most memorable performances on the show was a Couple's Choice routine danced to Mein Herr from Cabaret, which became known at the time as her "revenge dance." Reflecting on the routine, she said: "It struck a chord, 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."
During the routine, Skelton mouthed the line "you're better off without me," spoken by the Cabaret character Sally Bowles, which she described as a "metaphorical f*** you" to anyone who had doubted her.
Joining Morning Live and rumours about Gethin Jones
Skelton left her Sunday show on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2023 to spend more time with her three children at weekends, saying "the juggle is real." She went on to become a regular co-presenter on Morning Live, the BBC's weekday morning programme, joining the show that year as one of its main presenting faces.
Skelton and her Morning Live co-host Gethin Jones have been the subject of ongoing rumours about whether they are seeing each other away from the cameras. Addressing the speculation, she said: "It's wild. I've had my best friend congratulate me on our engagement. We're not [together]. We work together; he's one of my best friends."
Skelton also said she is not using dating apps. "I couldn't think of anything worse, although my dad keeps saying I'm on Tinder when he means Vinted," she said.
