STRICTLY Come Dancing star Helen Skelton has admitted she suffers from crippling “mum guilt” over missing time with her kids to rehearse for the show.
It comes after her split from rugby league star husband Richie Myler earlier this year.
The presenter – who is partnered with Gorka Marquez on Strictly – is mum to Ernie, seven, Louis, five, and Elsie, 10 months.
She told Brood magazine ahead of the live shows: “Part of me thinks it’s bad timing and the other part of me thinks it is good timing.
“Elsie is only little so she’s not crawling around yet, so she’s little enough to be quite placid and sleep a lot. I think sometimes it’s easy to overthink these things, but when I was asked, it was like ‘You know what, yes! Let’s do it!’”
She added: “Every mum I know at some point or another feels ‘Mum guilt.’
READ MORE ON STRICTLY
“They feel guilty if they work too much, or they feel guilty that they don’t work enough, the whole thing is a juggle.
“I don’t think anyone should look at other people’s situations and make assumptions, because I’ve done it myself where I’ve thought ‘gosh she work’s a lot! She must hardly ever see her kids?’
“But then I stop myself because I think, you know what, we’ve all got to buy food!
“That whole thing of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes is so true.
“I don’t think you can ever say which is the right way to do it, because everyone’s kids and everyone’s situation is different, you can only do what’s right for you and not compare yourself.
“But it can be hard not to do that because of social media.”
And she revealed the struggle of bringing up the kids alongside her career – even feeling guilty about getting a cleaner.
She said: “Like I hate cleaning, so I got a cleaner. I felt really bad about it at first, I felt really middle-class, and I would tidy up before they came, but then the lady said to me ‘why are you doing that, you are paying me to do this?’
“Oh, and don’t buy clothes that you need to iron! Again, why are you doing that to yourself.”
