Helen Flanagan has revealed she suffered a mental health episode so serious that her parents had to be called to take her children away.
The 34-year-old actress - best-known for playing the character Rosie Webster in ITV soap Coronation Street - admitted she struggled following her split with former fiancé Scott Sinclair in 2022, previously writing on social media that she was fighting a battle with her own mind.
Now, she has opened up further on her plight, which saw her experience a breakdown, including hallucinations and the fear that she was in constant danger.
This came to a head during a trip to Bali at New Year where she suffered a “very scary” psychotic episode whilst with her children Matilda, 9, Delilah, 6, and Charlie, 3, whom she shares with her footballer ex.
She also detailed the moment her nanny called her parents because Flanagan thought there was a man trying to break into her house.
Appearing on the Daily Mail’s The Life of Bryony podcast, she explained: “So when I was in my psychosis, I thought there was a man inside my house trying to break in my house with my kids.
“While I was driving home – it’s horrendous – I could have killed someone, I was driving, and because I was so bad on this medication, I thought there was somebody in my boot.
“I kept stopping my car all the time, because I can see someone jumping in my boot, because I was in a psychosis.”
She added: “I thought I could see someone, but my nanny came, and my mum had to take the children away from me.”
“My mum and dad looked after my kids for about a month, and then sometimes they would sleep at mine, sometimes they would sleep at my parents, just till I just got myself, like, really good again.
Flanagan accredited her concerning behaviour down to medication she had been prescribed for ADHD.
“I had to explain to [my childrens’ teacher] that that I am a fit mum, I am a good mum”, she concluded.
Following her split with Sinclair, Flanagan is now seeing ex-footballer Robbie Talbot, 44.
The two have only been together for around eight months, but Flanagan has said she would be open to having a child with her new partner.
Speaking to OK Magazine, she confessed: “I’m always broody.
“But my pregnancies have always been hard. I suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum, so I get really terrible sickness.
"When I was pregnant with Charlie I had such guilt, even now, about not spending enough time with the others because I was poorly.
“But still, I can’t help but be broody. I love babies.”
