Family life is chaotic and a bit rough around the edges

TV presenter and single mum-of-three Helen Skelton talks to LISA SALMON about family life and how she won't be a slave to social media

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HELEN Skelton makes no claims to be a ‘picture-perfect’ parent.

In fact, the effervescent TV presenter is very happy to admit life with her three young children - Ernie, aged 10, Louis, eight, and Elsie, three - can be “chaotic”.

“Why do we put pressure on ourselves to present this picture-perfect image to the outside world when the reality of family life is that it’s chaotic, it’s busy, a bit rough around the edges, and that’s what life is,’ she says.

“Me and my friends describe it as fifth gear or no gear, and I think you just have to take the pressure off of a bit and accept that’s what it is.”

Morning Live presenter Helen, 42, who split from the children’s father, retired rugby player Richie Myler, in 2022, is cheerfully self-deprecating about her parenting, pointing out that when she was asked to support a new campaign highlighting the “ludicrous expectations of parenting being pedalled on social media’, she thought it might be because her own parenting simply wasn’t “picture-perfect”.

Nevertheless, she agreed to support the tongue-in-cheek initiative, in which bread makers Warburtons have launched a ‘beauty range’ of sandwiches to highlight “lunchbox guilt”, after 60% of parents surveyed said they feel pressure to make a perfect-looking lunchbox.

“This is really about shining a light on normal life and the reason 45% of people feel guilty that the lunchboxes they send their kids out without those picture-perfect, Instagrammable lunches,” explains Helen. “And I think that’s probably something most of us can relate to.