Helen Flanagan has addressed her split from footballer Scot Sinclair for the first time as she appears in I'm A Celebrity... South Africa. Helen is battling it out with fellow previous campmates to become the ultimate 'legend' in the brand new ITV spin-off series.
Helen Flanagan and Scott Sinclair broke their romance off in July last year, after going through a "rough patch" in the summer. The pair had been due to tie the knot after the ex-Celtic player got down on one knee in 2018, but they sadly called time on their romance before they got hitched.
The Coronation Street star caused some confusion as she continued to flaunt her gorgeous diamond engagement ring on Monday night's inaugural episode, despite the couple reportedly going their separate ways. The celeb pair, who had been together 13 years, share three kids together - Matilda, seven, Charlie two, and Delilah four.
But where did their romance all go wrong, and where did it all begin?
The early days
The 32-year-old actress, best known for her role as Rosie Webster on Corrie, first met Scott and they started dating in 2009 when she was just 19 and in the prime of her acting career.
Scott was playing football for Birmingham City at the time they met. In 2015, the pair welcomed their first child together Matilda. Announcing the news on Instagram at the time, Helen wrote: "Matilda Jessica Sinclair my beautiful little girl."
Their move to the 'people's city'
The couple relocated to Glasgow in 2016 as Scott's football career progressed and he signed with Celtic Football Club, meaning that he, Helen and their daughter Matilda moved to the Scottish city to be closer to work.
During their time in Scotland, the couple welcomed their second daughter Delilah at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in 2018.
But they only spent a few years in their Scottish base, with Scott going on to sign for Preston in January 2020 after his career took new heights. Helen shared a post bidding Glasgow farewell, noting it would always hold a "special place in her heart."
She said at the time: "Glasgow will always have such a special place in my heart I have the happiest memories of my life so far in Glasgow, Matilda was only one when we moved here and has a Scottish accent... Delilah was born in Glasgow and my wee baby is Scottish and will always be a Glasgow girl x
"I have made life long friends who I care and love so much x this is my fave picture in Glasgow at Kelvingrove park, my fave Thankyou for all your lovely messages made me emotional to read them x."
The big engagement
Whilst Helen was pregnant with their second daughter Delilah, the couple and their daughter Matilda jetted off to Disneyland Paris for a family trip when Scott got down on one knee and popped the all-important question right in front of the iconic castle.
Scott shared snaps of the proposal in front of the castle, saying "She said YES!" Helen showed off her gorgeous ring which was an oval-shaped diamond with a diamond halo and band.
Along came Charlie
In March 2021, the couple then welcomed their third child and first son Charlie on Scott's 32nd birthday. The mum-of-three posted a snap standing in the hospital cuddling her baby and another of her and Scott post-birth as she gushed about life as a family of five.
She wrote at the time: "Our baby boy Charlie was born on Thursday on Scott’s birthday. I was two days overdue like I was with Delilah. We are in such a love bubble we couldn’t be more in love with our beautiful little boy, we can not stop staring at him.
"The girls just love him so much. We are absolutely besotted with our perfect little prince. Charlie is an absolute dream come true. I don’t think I’ve slept much since the labour but I feel like I miss his little face when I do sleep, not been able to put him down or stop kissing and cuddling him, he is so loved."
Helen previously opened up on suffering badly from hyperemesis gravidarum (excessive nausea and vomiting) during her pregnancy with Charlie which left her bed-bound and she was in and out of the hospital for months.
She told OK! magazine: “When you feel so dreadful, you think, ‘No way, I will absolutely never have another baby.’ But as soon as Charlie arrived I thought, ‘You’re so worth it.’"
The 'forever' family home
Helen and Scott purchased what would have been their 'forever home' in Cheshire in 2021, and decided to make an Instagram account for their new home to document the renovation process.
The 32-year-old shared snaps of her gorgeous abode from the plush grey furnishings in the living room to the dedicated, Harry Potter-themed playroom.
One of the highlights of the house tour is the children's playroom, which is adorned with Harry Potter items, including a broom over the door and the ceiling painted into a starry night with letters from Hogwarts scattered across the sky.
Helen showed she kept her kids' plentiful toys under some control with a huge boxed storage unit and credited a business called The Clutter Fairies for helping to install them.
Captioning the video, Helen wrote: "So before we moved into our house, Scott and I had always rented with his football and moving.
"Before I always had their toys in the living room so was lovely to have a play room. I worked with a company called The Clutter Fairies (north west based) to organise and declutter my home.
"It was great to declutter properly and give a lot to charity. We labelled the boxes so it was easy for me to tidy away and keep organised. A children’s play room is always going to be a bit chaotic and never perfectly organised but I think this gives some order."
The big wedding plans
Things appeared to be all going to plan, as Helen revealed in 2022 she and Scott would be tying the knot in 2024 after securing their venue.
Speaking to the Mirror at the time, Helen said they secured their dream wedding venue and she was excited for all her kids to be involved in the big day.
She said: "I have set a date. I'm so picky. I finally found my wedding venue. I don't want to give it away, but basically everybody wants this venue.
"I think what it is as well as me and Scott have been together for so long. We've been together for 13 years now. I've been with Scott since I've was 19, I'm 32 now, so I think we are probably a little bit laid back because it does feel like a marriage anyway."
The split
Despite finer details of their split not being fully uncovered, it wouldn't be out of place to suggest it was Scott's latest football deal with Bristol Rovers - after he was released by Preston - that could have caused their relationship breakdown. The 34-year-old would have been living 180 miles away from his family home in Cheshire.
Speculations first arose after Helen was spotted at the National Television Awards without her engagement ring, and later confirmed when the actress told her close friends and family that she is "no longer with Scott".
In early 2022, Helen admitted the couple hadn't slept in the same bed together since the birth of their daughter Matilda, saying she co-slept with the children "out of easiness" over the past seven years.
She said at the time: “I’ve always co-slept with Charlie and the breastfeeding went hand in hand. I’m doing my house up at the moment (hence why most of my pics are taken in the lounge area, as I haven’t got round to the rest).
“One of my next jobs is mine and Scott's room and after seven years it would be nice as a couple to actually share a bed and not feel like flatmates.
“I’ve always just co-slept with the kids out of easiness and just basically so I can sleep and just function in the morning.”
Will they be getting back together? What are the odds?
Many fans over recent months have been speculating the couple could have rekindled their romance after believing they had been spending a family holiday together in Dubai which was further fuelled by Helen continuing to wear her engagement ring.
But she has since quashed all rumours of the prospect they are back together, revealing on I'm A Celebrity... South Africa the real reason she continues to wear it.
Addressing why she still sometimes wears a ring on her left hand, Helen laughed: "That’s so typical of me – I didn’t even think about wearing a ring on that finger!"
Helen said she wore the huge diamond ring during filming of I'm A Celebrity...South Africa last year as her relationship with Scott had only just ended and she didn't want people inquiring about the whereabouts of her diamond.
She said: "I didn’t want to talk about it… I wanted to keep it private for the kids, I didn’t want to be talking about it on the show. I did find that difficult, because I had all that going on in my head."
It appears only time will tell if they will rekindle their romance, which could go either way, with Helen admitting she is finding life 'hard' as a single mum-of-three. But she has also been spotted signing up for Celebrity dating app Raya in recent months.
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