Helen Skelton put on a brave face as she hid left hand days before announcing split

Helen Skelton was seen putting on a brave face and hiding her left hand just days before announcing that she had split from husband of more than eight years, Richie Myler.

Former Blue Peter presenter Helen, 38, has been married to the rugby league player, 31, since 2013 and the estranged couple share three children together; Ernie, six, Louis, five, and four-month-old daughter Elsie.

This week Helen stunned her Instagram followers as she announced she and her husband are "no longer a couple" and he had moved out of the family home.

Just days before the announcement, Helen attended the opening of a new Go Outdoors store in Stockton, with her keeping her left hand hidden in the press shots.

Helen Skelton put on a brave face at the recent opening of a new Go Outdoors store (Instagram/ @gooutdoors)

She stood with her left hand behind her back while addressing guests at the launch (Instagram/ @gooutdoors)

Footage from the event shows Helen - who became an ambassador for outdoor brand North Ridge last month - putting on a brave face amid circumstances in her personal life.

And a clip of her cutting the ribbon outside the new store shows the presenter with what appears to be her sleeve covering much of her left hand, though her right is visible.

Another part from the opening on the weekend shows Helen addressing visitors inside the store, seen standing with her left hand behind her back in the recent footage.

Footage from the event showed her left hand being covered by a sleeve as she cut the ribbon (Instagram/ @gooutdoors)

Her left hand didn't appear to be visible much at the event (Instagram/ @gooutdoors)

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Helen announced that she had separated from her husband in a post on Instagram recently, with her writing: "Very sad to say that Richie and I are no longer a couple."

The post continued: "He has left the family home. We will be doing our best to co parent our small children." She concluded the message with broken heart emojis.

The news came just hours after Helen - best known for having presented Blue Peter from 2008 until 2013 - had shared a lengthy post about the struggles of motherhood.

Helen and husband Richie Myler have been married for eight years (helenskelton/Instagram)

She wrote to her followers on the platform: "A mama is always full of emotions. Full of love. Full of anxiety and worries. Full of exhaustion and lack of energy."

"Full of mum guilt and doubt. Full of pride in her kids. Full of pure joy. She feels it all, that's the beauty of her, she carries it all, too. And yet she gets up every day and does it all over again."

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