Leeds Rhinos star, Richie Myler, has shared some words of encouragement from his new girlfriend, Stephanie Thirkhill, following his team's Super League Grand Final defeat to St Helens.
Richie shared the posts on his Instagram stories last night, at the same time as ex, Helen Skelton, was strutting her stuff on the Strictly dancefloor. Helen and Richie split in April this year, after eight years of marriage. Since the split, Helen has thrown herself into other projects - including her Strictly Come Dancing debut - while Richie has flaunted his new relationship on social media.
Last night, as the Leeds Rhinos suffered a blistering defeat on the pitch, Helen was wowing judges with her American Smooth - alongside pro partner, Gorka Marquez. And fans wasted no time in celebrating Helen's success in the face of Richie's defeat.
@MrsLouiseWS said: "Very happy not to see Richie Myler lift the Super League Trophy after what he did to Helen. That woman gave him love, loyalty and three beautiful babies and he doesn't deserve an ounce of sympathy or respect. What a Mamma carving her career and raising her gorgeous little ones."
@fiveforeight said: "hel winning while richie myler loses? yes please". And @youngwangie said: "Helen Skelton has done a lot Better than Ritchie Myler tonight. She got 26 points".
But one person who was not celebrating Richie's loss was new girlfriend, Stephanie Thirkhill, who took to her Instagram stories to cheer him on. Richie shared the post on his own stories, which read: "Wasn't a win but couldn't be more proud of this one. Grand Final at Old Trafford and a great game for you. Love you so much X @richiemyler".
Richie shared the post - which featured a selfie of the couple - to his own stories, along with the caption "love you" and a heart emoji. He also shared a post of his own, which read: "Finished this Season as a family".
Last night, Helen and pro dancing partner, Gorka, briefly topped the Strictly leaderboard with their rendition of an American Smooth. With high scores from the judges, it looked as though they could be on to a winner - but were beaten by Will Mellor and Nancy Xu, who got all eights and nines in their scores.
Helen Skelton has been the bookies favourite to win Strictly even before the show started. She was at first sharing joint odds with Fleur East, but is now the lone frontrunner.
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