Strictly Helen Skelton: Who is Leeds TV and radio presenter Helen Skelton? From Blue Peter to Countryfile - what is her career journey to date?

The BBC has announced that Helen Skelton will be competing on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing show on BBC One.

The show’s start date has been moved from Saturday, September 17 to Friday, September 23 in the wake of The Queen’s death.

But what has the popular TV and radio presenter, who lives in Leeds, been up to in her career until now?

Here is everything you need to know about Helen Skelton.

Who is Helen Skelton?

Helen was born in Carlisle, Cumbria, where she was raised on a dairy farm in the village of Kirkby Thore.

She attended the local primary school before joining Appleby Grammar School and then graduating from Cumbria Institute of the Arts, where she earned a BA degree in journalism.

Her TV career actually began while she was studying in college as she worked as an extra on Coronation Street and Cutting It.

Helen is a qualified tap dancing teacher and admitted that if she was not a TV presenter, she would have become a teacher.

Her brother is no stranger to the spotlight as he is a professional footballer and has also been a player coach and manager.

In December 2013, Helen married England national rugby league team player Richie Myler, who plays a scrum-half and fullback for the Leeds Rhinos. They have a son and a daughter who were born in June 2015 and December 2015 respectively.

Helen announced that they were no longer a couple on Instagram on April 25, 2022.

Helen currently resides in Leeds.

Helen Skelton’s career history to date

Following a career stint in public relations, Helen chose to focus her career in journalism; she worked in the newsroom at CFM Radio and participated in various programmes at Border Television, before she became a breakfast presenter on BBC Radio Cumbria in 2005, where she was one of the youngest breakfast slot presenters on the BBC network at the time.

She was then a reporter and occasional presenter on children’s news programme Newsround and its weekend sports-based version, Sportsround.

She became a presenter on Blue Peter in August 2008, where she replaced Zoe Salmon and became the 33rd presenter for the programme. In a challenge for the series, Helen took an uncredited role in the BBC production of Merlin.

Between the years 2008 and 2018, Helen took part in various challenges: a wheelchair dance competition where she and her 16-year-old partner defeated 100 other dancers, ultra marathons, where she became the second woman ever to finish the 78-mile Namibian ultra marathon in 23 hours and 45 minutes, kayaking the Amazon River, tightrope walking between chimneys at Battersea Power Station 66 metres above the ground, cycling to the South Pole, Helen’s Magnificent 7 on Blue Peter for Comic Relief and a Sport Relief celebrity boxing match where she defeated Love Island’s Camilla Thurlow.

She took part in an uncredited role in the BBC production of Merlin and announced her departure from the show in August 2013 and was subsequently replaced by Radzi Chinyanganya.

Following on from her departure from Blue Peter, Helen became a presenter of live FA Women’s Super League football matches for the BT Sport channel, as well as retaining her BBC reporter roles.

She has occasionally presented segments of Countryfile since 2008 and also presented two series of Holiday Hit Squad in 2013 and 2014 alongside Angela Rippon and Joe Crowley.

In 2013/14, she presented the London Marathon Highlights show on the BBC. She was then replaced by Ore Oduba in 2016.

In December 2012, Helen participated in a Christmas Special edition of Strictly Come Dancing and since 2015, she has also co-presented daytime BBC One series The Instant Gardener alongside Danny Clarke.

Helen’s first novel, Amy Wild: Amazon Summer, was published in May 2015.

In early 2016, she presented Tonight: Kids V Career and has also hosted coverage of the 2016 European Swimming Championships with Mark Foster and Rebecca Adlington. She also worked for the BBC at the 2016 Summer Olympics presenting swimming coverage alongside Rebecca Adlington, Adrian Moorhouse, Andy Jameson and Mark Foster.

In October of that same year, Helen also guest presented five editions of Lorraine on ITV as well as a further five in February 2017. In that same year, she returned to cover swimming on the BBC during the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.

Helen also appeared on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (series eight episode 14) with her friend and former co-presenter Rebecca Adlington.

She currently hosts a weekly slot on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sundays from 3pm to 6pm and stands in as a temporary co-host on BBC Radio 5 Live Drive Time with Tony Livesey.

On August 14, 2022, Helen replaced Laura Whitmore as a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live’s new-look morning show every Sunday between 10am and 12pm.

On August 13, 2022, it was revealed that Helen will be competing in the 20th series of Strictly Come Dancing.