'Co-parenting over Christmas is rubbish'

Helen Flanagan on adjusting to life as a single mum and her mental health challenges

- KENZI DEVINE & JESSICA CLARKE

The past few years haven't always been easy for busy mum-of-three Helen Flanagan. Since splitting from her fiancé Scott Sinclair in 2022, the 35-year-old actress has been co-parenting with the footballer, but as the festive season approaches, she admits that the reality of how tough that can be is truly hitting home.

I have to co-parent over Christmas, which is really rubbish. I live very north, in Manchester, and he lives in Bath, so it's not like we can co-parent like you can when you live in the same city. So [for Christmas] we're taking turns, which I'm not looking forward to,” she explains to new during a chat at the Pride of Britain awards.

Helen, who shares Matilda, 10, Delilah, seven, and four-year-old Charlie with Scott, continues, “It feels really unnatural when you're a mum and you don't have your kids around you for Christmas... But it's just a day I guess, and I have signed myself up to panto.”

The former Coronation Street regular has made no secret of how difficult it's been adjusting to life as a single mum, and revealed in 2024 that the stress of her split from Scott - who she dated for 13 years - had been detrimental to her mental health.