Having served as one of UK’s main presenters during the Rio Olympics in the summer of 2016, she’s accustomed to witnessing great physical agility.
But Helen Skelton has admitted that she was left particularly impressed by the prowess of pole dancers, when she recently tried out the gruelling activity for her new two-part ITV2 show, Exercise: New Year, New You?.
During an appearance on Lorraine on Wednesday, the 34-year-old Countryfile presenter gushed: ‘Those girls are so fit! People do have a stereotype [about pole dancers]. But anyone who goes oh pole dancing, I dare you to try it! It’s so hard.’
Gruelling: Helen Skelton has revealed that she tried out pole-dancing for her new two-part ITV2 show Exercise: New Year, New You? – and she found it ‘so hard’
As part of the show, the mother-of-two also tried out fat-burning pills during her quest to test out an array of fad diets as well as exercise routines – and she found the results decidedly worrying.
She said: ‘When I tried the fat-burning pills, I thought, “I’m tough as nails, these won’t affect me.” We did an experiment with fat-burning pills and I tried them in a controlled environment and I was really surprised and scared at the results.
‘I thought I’d know how my body would react but I felt absolutely awful… it was scary. I couldn’t really concentrate, I was all over the place, my heart was racing and I was a bit embarrassed to admit that, I thought it wouldn’t affect me but it did.
Pills: Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on ITV’s Lorraine on Wednesday, the star also spoke about trying out fat-burning pills as a part of her research for her new show
‘We have to be very, very careful because in this day and age people want a quick fix. The amount of people now who take fat-burning pills and slimming pills is really scary and for some people that can lead on to some very serious issues and problems.’
The star, who returned to the UK with her family at the end of last year following a stint of living in France, recently told MailOnline that she was initially oblivious to the furore her choice of on-air skimpy outfits caused during the Rio Olympics.
But while her appearance had caused a huge stir on social media, Helen admitted she only found out the controversey when her dad appearing on This Morning to discuss a pair of eye-wateringly short shorts she had been wearing.
She claimed she wasn’t fazed by the fuss and didn’t feel ‘objectified’, despite what others thought – instead finding the whole debacle ‘really funny’.
Not fazed: The star recently admitted that she was oblivious to the furore her scanty outfit choices at the Rio Olympics in 2016 had caused and insists she finds her critics ‘really funny’
Helen had been covering all the sporting action alongside former Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, but found herself having to defend her chosen wardrobe, after the action in the pool was overshadowed by her hemlines.
Looking back at the scandal she had caused with her clothing, Helen insisted she now finds it all ‘really funny’ and had been blissfully unaware of herself hitting the headlines as a result.
She said: ‘I’m not in the habit of Googling myself, I learned along time ago not to google yourself because you read too much into it, so I found out by my brother ringing me and going, “Why is dad on This Morning?”
‘My dad who is a Northern dairy farmer was speaking to Eamonn Holmes about my shorts! I get more press and headlines about a pair of shorts, than anything else I’ve done, it’s just funny.’
Drama: She had been covering all the sporting action alongside former Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, but found herself having to defend her chosen wardrobe, after the action in the pool was overshadowed by her hemlines
Clueless: Looking back at the scandal she had caused with her clothing, Helen insisted she now finds it all ‘really funny’ and had been blissfully unaware of herself hitting the headlines as a result
Helen continued: ‘People are like, “Do you feel like you’re being objectified by other women?” and I’m like, “No, it’s just a pair of shorts!”‘
‘If a pair of shorts can spark a debate about sexism, then fair play to the pair of shorts,’ she joked.
But it’s not just her outfit choices that she has been targeted over, as Helen recalled receiving cruel jibes from social media users about her pregnancy weight when she was expecting her youngest son Louis, now nine months.
She and her husband, rugby player Richie Myler, are also parents to son Ernie, two.
‘I’ve had awful things said to me online that have upset me,’ Helen revealed. ‘You have to take the good with the bad, but Twitter is unnecessarily vile. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, just not all opinions are entitled to count.’
Oops! She said: ‘I’m not in the habit of googling myself, I learned along time ago not to google yourself because you read too much into it, so I found out by my brother ringing me and going, “Why is dad on This Morning?”
Harsh: But it’s not just her outfit choices that she has been targeted over, as Helen recalled receiving cruel jibes from social media users about her pregnancy weight when she was expecting her youngest son Louis, now eight months
The TV presenter added: ‘Sometimes it’s so vile, it’s hilarious. When I was pregnant, someone wrote, “She’s so fat not even a storm could blow her over,” I was like, “Wow, that is harsh!” But you have to laugh about it.
‘I did a programme with Rio Ferdinand once and he got so much abuse on Twitter, I couldn’t believe it. People saying, “You’re a cr*p footballer” – he’s not though, is he?Because he plays for England and one of the biggest clubs in the world!’
Unfazed by the jibes she received about her pregnancy frame, Helen has insisted she ‘no longer puts pressure’ on herself when it comes to her weight – openly admitting that it did used to bother her in her 20s.
Helen explained: ‘For the first time ever, I don’t put any pressure on myself because I don’t have the time. I have done every diet and I watched my weight for years, but since I’ve had kids… I don’t even have time to wash my hair.’
Insisting a more relaxed attitude towards her weight has actually helped her maintain her phenomenal shape, that she is often seen flaunting on her Instagram page.
‘I haven’t eaten more chocolate or more rubbish – I think because I’m not depriving myself, I don’t crave it.’
Joining an army of celebrity mums who are in favour of new mothers not being pressurised into snapping back into shape after giving birth, Helen, who had been living in France with her children while her husband worked over there, claimed it had been culture shock for her.
‘It’s funny in France all the French mums used to ask me all the way through my pregnancy, “How much weight have you put on?” I consciously never weight myself and I hadn’t… it’s just really bad for your heard. I’ve done that, I’ve watched the scales… now I won’t have scales in the house.’
Her new outlook has come from being a mother and gushing about her parenting duties, Helen told MailOnline: ‘It’s the best thing ever.’
Admitting it has been hard juggling her working commitments, as well as a move from France to Leeds that has seen her family living between houses, with looking after her little ones, Helen added: ‘You have to be a bit more ahead of the game! You’re outnumbered when there’s two!’
Lucky enough to stay at home with her eldest child just after he was born, Helen addressed the guilt mothers can often feel when they head back to work and insisted that women shouldn’t feel pressured when it comes to balancing their career with their children.
She said: ‘I want women to be proud of their choices and not try and justify them – including myself. I do it, I say, “I’m going to work, but it’s OK because [the boys] are with their grandparents.” Men don’t! My husband never goes, “I’m going to work, but it’s alright because they’re with their mum.”‘
Sweet: Her new outlook has come from being a mother and gushing about her parenting duties, Helen told MailOnline: ‘It’s the best thing ever’
Mother-of-two Helen admitted that while she often thinks about expanding her brood, she isn’t ‘yet ready’ to have more children, following the dramatic birth of her youngest son Louis overseas in France.
Following his birth, she had spoken out about his dramatic arrival and revealed the moment firefighters had rescued her after she had given birth on the kitchen floor overseas.
After feeling the first signs of labour a panicked Helen called Richie, who was stuck in the UK, telling him he should get to the airport quickly as the baby was on the way. Back in the UK Richie had rung a friend who was their neighbour who called emergency services and rushed over to help, with the sports star later gushing over how ‘proud’ he had been of his wife for going through it alone.
Looking back at her labour, Helen admits it’s now ‘more traumatic than I would like it to be’ and she realises how ‘lucky’ she was to have a ‘textbook birth’ in a situation that could have easily provided her with much more difficulty.
Traumatic: Following his birth, she had spoken out about his dramatic arrival and revealed the moment firefighters had rescued her after she had given birth on the kitchen floor overseas
Suggesting it has put her off falling pregnant again anytime soon, Helen joked: ‘Knocked Up came on the other night and I was like, ‘Turn it off! I can’t watch it,’ I’m not ready. If I went again, I’d probably need hypno-birthing or something!’
She isn’t, however, ruling out more children, but insists as a mother of two boys, she won’t fall pregnant just to aid her chances of having a daughter.
‘Some days I say I would love one more, two more, three more and other days, I’m like, “No!” When you have two boys, it’s hard because everyone is like would you have another one to have a girl and I’m like, “No! I wouldn’t have another one to have a girl!”
‘I would hate for another little boy to come along and everyone be like, “Awww, but she wanted a girl” People do that! Yes I see all these little girls in tutu and think that’s cute… but I love my boys.’
Holding off: Suggesting it has put her off falling pregnant again anytime soon, Helen joked: ‘Knocked Up came on the other night and I was like, ‘Turn it off! I can’t watch it,’ I’m not ready’