Helen Skelton has opened up about insecurities around her appearance in a new interview, following repeated speculation that she and BBC colleague Gethin Jones are dating.
According to The Daily Mail, BBC Morning Live presenter, 43, told Closer that she wished “everything was a bit perkier” when it came to her body, adding: “But it’s not.”
Despite her body image issues, the broadcaster and mum-of-three said: “We are where we are and I’m grateful.”
Skelton is very physically active and currently trains three times a week for The Great North Run in September.
When it comes to workouts, though, she said she prefers doing “little things”, such as “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 said.
She has previously said that when she exercises, her priority is her mental health rather than keeping “my bum peachy” and that she goes to the gym “for joy, not aesthetics”.
“I like movement and sport,” she told Woman & Home. “I'm not one for those shouty, dark gyms – I get enough of that energy at home with my kids!”
Her candid admission about her insecurities comes after she was once again forced to shut down rumours around her and Jones’s relationship.
The pair have repeatedly fielded questions around their relationship, particularly after they were photographed together outside the BBC studio last year.
The speculation intensified after they attended the red carpet at each other’s side at ITV’s Pride of Britain Awards in October and later at a Royal Television Society event in Manchester.
She insisted they were “just best friends” in a recent interview with The Times.
Asked if there was any truth to the rumours, Skelton said: “We're not. We work together; he's one of my best friends.”
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant admitted the rumours have become so widespread that even people close to her have been fooled.
“I've had my best friend congratulate me on our engagement,” she revealed.
She also told The Mirror earlier this year: “[Gethin and I] just work together, we are not together. No, no, no. We are just work friends.
“They printed pictures of us at work and [claimed] that we're together, [but we were] at work together.”
Jones also appeared to shut down the rumours in an appearance on Christine McGuinness‘s Situationships podcast earlier this year.
In the podcast, McGuinness and author Sophie Gravia discussed their own relationships, with one mentioning that they had been single for a long time.
Jones responded simply: “Join the club.”
