HELEN Skelton is embroiled in another love triangle – months after her estranged husband got his new girlfriend pregnant.
The Strictly star set tongues wagging when she sent secret messages to her cheating ex Richie Myler with a sizzling dance that got her to the final.
Helen Skelton is on the Strictly Live Tour
She’s partnered up with Kai Widdrington
Now she’s ready to return to the Strictly dance floor as she goes on tour with six of her fellow co-stars.
But instead of dancing with her series partner Gorka, Helen is paired up with hunky Kai Widdrington.
“It’s really difficult not to be with Gorka because we’re such good friends,” Helen told HOAR.
“I’ve been asking him for advice a lot, so it feels like he’s here. I’d have loved for him to do it, but it’s almost like he’s in the group.”
Helen’s had to adapt to dancing with 6ft1 professional Kai after 13 weeks with Gorka who is just 5ft6.
Ever the professional, Helen hasn’t let the change in partnership faze her – and insists Gorka, who’s spending time with his family, will come to watch.
She added: “It’s such a tight knit group in the studio anyway. We all talked and all had a laugh. so it’s different, but it wasn’t a worry and like ‘oh my god what’s going to happen’.
“We knew each other from the series, we all hung out and spoke a lot. I was very lucky Kai was able to do it.”
Helen’s marriage to Richie broke down last year, months after the birth of the youngest of their three children.
She signed up to Strictly so she could see her family smile again after a difficult year.
But the 39-year-old has openly admitted to struggling with her confidence in the early days of her time on Strictly, with things getting to her so much that she fled rehearsals through a fire exit in the run-up to the first live show.
Her turning point came in week 11 when she got 39 points for her incredible Couple’s Choice dance to Mein Herr from Cabaret.
At the time body language expert Jo Hemmings told HOAR the Countryfile presenter sent her ex Richie five messages throughout her performance, by “packing a number of boldly confident and independent messages into her moves”.
They included her wearing the ‘revenge dress’, flashing her middle finger and miming “you’re better off without me”.
Asked about how she was an empowering role model to fans after her breakup, Helen said: “The great thing about Strictly is it connects with lots of people in lots of different ways.
“I’m very lucky in my career to do jobs that do exactly that. That’s the best thing about telly – you can make telly that you’re proud of and that people connect with and share a moment with and that’s what Strictly does in spades.”
Alongside Helen in this year’s star-studded full line-up is Strictly champion Hamza Yassin and partner Jowita Przystal, Fleur East dancing with Vito Coppola, Will Mellor and Nancy Xu, Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu, Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin, Tyler West and Dianne Buswell.
They’ll be critiqued by head judge Shirley Ballas and tour director Craig Revel Horwood alongside Anton Du Beke – who joins the panel for the first time on the tour’s 20th anniversary.
Although the judges will be there to give their hot take on the performances, it’s the fans who have the power to decide who wins the Glitterball Trophy at the end of each show. The audience will vote via text for their favourite couple – meaning reigning 2022 champion Hamza risks being beaten by his co-stars.
The Strictly Live Tour launches on January 20 at the Utilita Arena Birmingham before waltzing around the UK to Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, Leeds’ First Direct Arena, the AO Arena Manchester, Sheffield’s Utilita Arena, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, London’s O2 Arena, the SSE Arena Belfast, before ending the run at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on February 12.
And in a bid to honour 2021 winner Rose Ayling-Ellis’ legacy, a British Sign Language interpreter will be displayed on two very large screens either side of the stage so that deaf fans can book tickets and sit almost anywhere in the arena to enjoy the experience with family and friends.
For more information visit strictlycomedancinglive.com/tour-dates-2023/
Helen and Kai can’t wait to get started
