Helen Flanagan has made a heartbreaking confession about her split from her ex-fiancé Scott Sinclair.
The former Coronation Street actress split from the Bristol Rovers footballer in July 2022, after 13 years together.
The former couple share three children – Matilda, 8, Delilah, 5, and Charlie, 2.
While Helen has remained relatively tight-lipped on her split from Scott, she has now admitted that they don’t speak and “don’t like each other very much at the moment”.
Speaking to The UK Sun, the former Coronation Street actress said: “This year has been quite a big one. I’ve been through a lot of changes and I’ve made some mistakes, but I’ve definitely grown as a person. Most of my 20s were taken up with being pregnant or breastfeeding, so now I’m enjoying coming back to Helen.”
“It was a mutual decision [to split] and, personally, I felt as a mum that this was the best thing for my children. I want them to see healthy relationships and to be in healthy environments. I think if you’re unhappy then that projects on to them.”
“Especially when you have daughters, you feel like you have to set an example. I always ask myself: ‘What would I want my daughters to do? What would I want for them?’ I’d want them to be happy. I wouldn’t want them to feel stuck.”
“I love Scott and I know that he loves me, but I suppose we just don’t like each other very much at the moment,” Helen heartbreakingly admitted. “We don’t really speak and there’s no point in pretending that we’re the best of friends when we’re not.”
“What we had was really special, and because of that, the emotion between us is just too raw. Luckily, I get on really well with his mum and he speaks to my parents, so I’m sure Scott and I will eventually have a better relationship. Obviously, it’s not ideal, but we both adore the children and we’d never want any arguing in front of them.”
“He knows I’m always flexible about him seeing them. Whenever he wants to see them, I try to accommodate that.”
“We’d been good while I was pregnant, but I struggled with my mental health after Charlie, and that put a bit of a strain on our relationship. Scott is a good guy, but I felt he wasn’t very good with emotions.”
“We got used to doing our own thing. I had my own work and friends, and so did he. We just weren’t really together that much,” Helen explained. “Maybe I wasn’t the easiest person to live with – neither was he! – but there were a lot of factors that led to the end of the relationship. It wasn’t just one thing.”
Although Charlie was just 16 months when she and Scott split, the mum-of-three was careful about how she told their daughters Matilda and Delilah.
“I think if you make a big deal out of things for kids, they pick up on that, so I tried to keep it very chilled. Shortly after me and Scott had agreed to separate, I picked Matilda up from Bath to drive back to Manchester and I just said: ‘You know that Mummy and Daddy are just friends now? We love you so much, and we’re happier not being boyfriend and girlfriend any more.’”
“And she said: ‘Is that because you’re just not compatible?’ And I told her that she was right.”
“She has been upset and I’ve always told her she’s got every right to feel how she feels, and that I’m always here for her and we’d work things through,” Helen continued.
“Earlier this year, I’d put the kids to bed and just start crying. I didn’t know what was wrong with me and then I realised it was loneliness. I’d always had a boyfriend from the age of 17, and even though I’m very strong and independent, I get lonely.”
“I struggle when the kids are away – I’m always so happy when they come back through the door. I think their chaos is my calm, because when I’m away from my kids I overthink things. I take strength from them and they keep everything in perspective.”
“I stay really busy and I’ve always got different brand campaigns I’m working on, so I’m fortunate with that as a distraction,” Helen continued.
“But it took me a long time to be comfortable in the house on my own. All I could see were toys everywhere and that would make me cry. I felt like every time they went to their dad’s, I’d have to run away to London, stay with friends and go out and get really drunk.”
“Then I’d be even more exhausted when the kids came back. I realised it was ridiculous. I decided that it was OK to feel a bit sad when I was on my own, I just had to sit with those feelings and let them pass.”
