Helen Flanagan candidly discusses co-parenting struggle with ex Scott Sinclair and 'mum guilt' over different bonds with her three children
The actress, 34, who shares Matilda, nine, Delilah, six, and Charlie, three, with her ex-fiancé Scott Sinclair, admitted to 'finding motherhood hard recently.'
Helen split from the professional footballer in 2022 after 13 years together. She moved on with construction worker Robbie Talbot, 45, but they split in May.
Sharing a series of photos with her children, she captioned the Instagram update: 'Looked back at some of my favourite times with the kids this year x
'Found motherhood hard recently, I've felt overwhelmed and stressed the majority of the time and I want to get back to when I'm present and I'm really in it and I'm really enjoying it x I always wanted to be a mum x.
'I get mum guilt with Matilda as I feel like I'm always pre occupied with her brother, I can't give her the energy that I want to give her and I feel like she always sees me at my worst.'
The actress continued: 'I also feel like she needs calm which I can never be. Delilah, I feel like I'm getting it right with her and I feel like our bond is tight, so that's something not to beat myself up about.
'Charlie I could pull my hair out sometimes, I feel like I've got the male version of me x.
'Co parenting is hard and not being a team together and not being able to talk about your anxieties and worries for the kids.
'I suppose you can only do your best and be kind to yourself but I wanted these on my grid for me as they make my soul happy.'
The update comes after Helen declared that she's 'back to normal herself' and 'living in the Starbucks drive-thru' after the return of her driving licence following a six month ban.
Back in January, the ex Corrie actress told the court her ex boyfriend Robbie Talbot was driving her £66,000 Audi Q7 when it was caught speeding twice.
She was subsequently barred from the roads for six months, despite claiming she was struggling financially and would not be able to afford taxis to get her children to school.
After being snapped back behind the wheel of her pricey motor last week, a delighted Helen took to her Instagram Stories to update her followers.
Sharing a series of photos with her children, she captioned the Instagram update: 'Looked back at some of my favourite times with the kids this year x'
She concluded: 'I suppose you can only do your best and be kind to yourself but I wanted these on my grid for me as they make my soul happy'
She gushed: 'I am so happy that I have got my driving licence back, I was nervous at first for like the first ten minutes I was like 'It's so weird to be driving again' but now I just absolutely love it'.
'Back to my normal. I feel like I am back to myself now i'm back to the Trafford Centre and back living at the Starbucks drive-thru and I just feel like myself'.
In a chaotic social media post last month, Helen complained what a 'pain in the a***' it had been without a car and had been unable to run errands or go shopping for essentials due to living so remotely.
Taking to her Instagram Stories she explained her ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) had caused her to mix up paperwork to reapply for her licence, meaning the process would now be delayed further.
'I literally can't tell you what a pain in the a*** not having [my driving licence] because I live in the middle of nowhere, and of course I haven't been driving'.
'It's just been so b****y annoying, for example we are out of loo roll now and I can't pop out to the shops to get loo roll so my friend has to bring me loo roll'.
In court Helen said her isolated moorland home meant it was a 10-minute drive even to go to the shops to buy bread and milk, and that she would 'really struggle without a car' in the remote location.
The actress, who lives near Bolton, Greater Manchester, said she earned £70,000 last year – but said her income varies and that she could not afford a £10 taxi to take her son to nursery.
Prosecutor Stephen Kirk told how Helen, who already had six penalty points for speeding, failed to declare who had been driving the car when it was caught speeding at locations on Merseyside in June last year, doing 42mph in a 30mph limit and 51mph in a 40mph limit.
Magistrates gave her six more points for each offence - taking her total to 18 points, well above the 12-point threshold when magistrates normally impose a ban unless there is 'exceptional hardship'.
Making her doomed plea to keep her licence, Helen said at the time: 'I am so sorry. I stupidly thought it was acceptable for my boyfriend to explain he was the one driving and it wasn't me.'
Helen told the court how she is a 'full-time' mother to children Matilda, nine, Delilah, six, and Charlie, three, using the car to take them to nursery, school and activities.
She said: 'My job really is being a mum at home. Their dad works away. It's really difficult at the moment now for me to be earning money. I earn money on social media but it kind of varies what I earn.'
She added: 'I think there might be a perception maybe that I would easily be able to afford a driver but that's quite far from the case.
'I've got enough money in my account to pay off my tax and my VAT and basically that's about it.'
Asked by solicitor, Patrick Boyers, how she takes her son Charlie to his nursery without a car, she said: 'The other way to get Charlie to nursery is by Uber (taxi). That would be really expensive. I'm really struggling at the moment, financially.'
Asked by the clerk how much it cost, she said: 'I did get an Uber from my house to the nursery this morning. It cost £10 that time.'
She also claimed her son 'doesn't do so well in a taxi' and that he's 'much better strapped into a car where he's safe'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Katie Price and Kerry Katona reveal they WANT their teenage daughters to go on Love Island and follow in their reality TV footsteps as they weigh in on 'nepo baby' debate
Katie Price and Kerry Katona have confessed that they want their teenage daughters to go on ITV 's flagship show Love Island. Katie, 47, is a mother to Harvey, 22, with her ex Dwight Yorke, Junior, 19, and Princess 18, with ex-husband Peter Andre, and Jett, 11, and Bunny, 10, with ex-husband Kieran Hayler. Meanwhile, Kerry, 44, shares daughters Molly, 23, and Lilly Sue, 22, with her first husband Brian McFadden; Heidi, 18, and Max, 16, with second husband Mark Croft and her youngest DJ, 10, with late husband George Kay. Now, the famous friends have confessed that they want their respective teenage daughters, Princess and Heidi, to sign up for Love Island and follow in their reality TV footsteps. Katie told The Sun: 'I always say Love Island, Heidi and Princess need to do it together.' To which Kerry added: 'The way I see it is, forget management, forget fame, what an amazing memory, what an amazing adventure.' The pair have confessed to The Sun that they want their two teenage daughters, Princess and Heidi (pictured with her mother Kerry) to be a competitor on the dating reality show Love Island Kerry also hit back at 'nepo baby' accusations as she insisted their children would only be able to thrive in the industry if they had the talent as well. 'Everyone talks about nepotism right, but everyone has a contact for somebody, I can open a door for you, whether you get through that door and you stay through it, that's on your own f*cking merit,' she said. 'You don't see Brooklyn Beckham playing f*cking football, because he's sh*t - this is our family business, this is what we do as a family.' Love Island is a UK dating competition where a group of singles live together in a luxury villa and try to form romantic connections in a bid to win a £50,000 cash prize. It would not be Princess' first foray into reality TV as she has teamed up with ITV to release her fly-on-the-wall series, The Princess Diaries. Princess is also said to already have a net worth of £500,000 and starred on the cover of OK! Magazine for her 18th birthday as she follows in her mum's showbiz footsteps. While this is a substantial amount of money, this is just 10 per cent of what Princess's ratings can secure as she has vowed to become a 'millionaire by the age of 20' For a single sponsorship brand deal video, the blonde beauty can be anywhere between £2,540 to £3,810. Meanwhile, Heidi, who boasts 18,000 followers on Instagram, has reportedly just 'done her first solo shoot', according to her mother Kerry. Heidi is currently a brand ambassador for In Print We Trust, and she offers fans discounts for using her code as she has proven herself to be the budding influencer. And it is not just TV appearances and brand deals that Heidi can capitalise off, as her TikTok and Instagram accounts have amassed over 20,000 followers. With her 18,000 Instagram followers, she is estimated to earn anywhere between £160 to £245 for each sponsorship brand deal video. Heidi has been trying to break onto the showbusiness scene for many years as she appeared on The Voice Kids in 2020. Having confessed previously that 'she knows she will be famous in the future', the brunette beauty has also teased that she has considered going on Love Island when she is older enough. And there is more to come for the star as a source told the Sun last year that she had 'already secured some incredible opportunities, including a casting in for a lead role in a Pinocchio feature film'. Heidi appears to be taking inspiration of success from family friend Princess as the Katona and Price families have been spending more time with one another over recent years.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: How drink doomed Princess's love affair with Richard Burton
Born in a palace, she speaks five languages, has been married three times – once to a former prime minister – numbers Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg among her children and invariably has tea with her cousin, King Charles, whenever she's in England. But it was her love affair with Richard Burton, five decades ago, which propelled Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia to global attention – an episode about which she has remained silent ever since. Until now, that is. Speaking from Belgrade, where she has lived since 2002, Princess Elizabeth tells me that she can now look back on that time with some amusement. But the details, which appear in her memoir, newly published in Serbian, offer a harrowing glimpse of a man obliterating his talent and health with alcohol. The Princess had first set eyes on Burton at the height of his powers, years before they met socially. 'He was playing Hamlet. He sat on the stage, dressed in black,' she tells me, remembering how she had been transfixed – by his 'blue eyes… shining' and by his voice. 'It was mesmerising. Absolutely extraordinary.' That might have been the last she saw of him, had it not been for a dinner given by David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Lord Harlech. Burton and Taylor were among the guests. 'Richard got very drunk and threw up in the champagne bucket,' Elizabeth, who was then married to her second husband, British financier Neil Balfour, recalls. This might have served as a warning. But it did not. The Princess found Burton – the son of a Welsh-speaking miner from Glamorgan – as mesmerising as before. Weeks after his divorce from Taylor, they announced their engagement. But the Princess soon learned that Taylor hadn't bidden farewell to Burton. 'She used to call me Elisheva – the Hebrew version of my name,' recalls Elizabeth. Burton's drinking was infinitely more challenging. 'I had to put him in a clinic in Switzerland. He was so drunk that I thought he was going to die. I called up the ambulance and got them to drug him and drag him off. He was surrounded by a lot of ugly male nurses which didn't please him at all.' He recovered sufficiently to fly to Nice to work on a film. At his insistence, a part for his Princess was written into the script. But it was a hopeless gesture. 'He was drinking all the time. We had to go through fourteen takes for him to get his lines right – which were a matter of five words.' Elizabeth flew back to London, putting an end to their engagement. The film, Jackpot, was never finished. But it seems that, at 89, Elizabeth may star in a film of her own. 'They've written a script [based on my memoir],' explains the Princess, who is now seeking an English publisher – a quest which, I trust, will not be too much of a struggle... Interview by Marcus Scriven Minnie's man has moved to London Good Will Hunting star Minnie Driver and her US filmmaker boyfriend, Addison O'Dea, are closing the gap in their long-distance relationship. The couple, who have been dating for six years, are now living together in London. Minnie, 55, tells me: 'We are pretty much here now. We're here a lot more than we are in the States, and it's working for us.' O'Dea, 46, says: 'It's lovely being with all my English mates.' I left Hollywood due to poisonous #MeToo backlash, says Rose She was influential in changing the landscape of Hollywood by spearheading the #MeToo movement, but it's only now that Rose McGowan has found peace. The US actress, 51, was one of the first women to accuse disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape. 'The way I healed from a lot of very intense things – like people really hating and being programmed to cancel me for whatever reason – was, I just had to leave with love,' reveals McGowan. The Charmed star has spent the past six years doing environmental work in Mexico, where she lives. 'I had to get the poison of resentment out of me,' she says. 'I had to be with things that actually mattered like trees, animals, insects, water, ocean, plants – all of it together.' McGowan was among the panellists speaking onboard the Oosterschelde tall ship in London for the launch of the Jane Goodall Barbie, All Of Me, which is made entirely from recycled ocean plastic. She adds: 'I've been lucky enough to live in the jungle for the last six years... what I do daily there is go on long, long walks on the shores. I will clean it to the best of my ability because it's given me so much.' Karen Millen feels fab after £35k facelift It's just over a year since fashion designer Karen Millen underwent a life-changing £35,000 facelift to reverse the signs of ageing, which she says has now been achieved. She tells me at Backstage Beauty Salon in Chelsea: 'I don't feel like I'm coming up to 64. When I look back on some of my old photographs, I can't believe how bad I looked.' Karen adds: 'I just feel in the best place ever.' Her surgery with Dr Tunc Tiryaki – co-founder of the London Regenerative Institute at luxury hotel the Corinthia – involved three months of healing time. Speaking of her results, Karen says: 'I have a healthy glow and my whole jawline is just smooth, and I receive lots of compliments.' Equestrian Tatiana rides to new role She was once a keen equestrian, but Lady Tatiana Mountbatten is, I hear, stepping away from the saddle. The daughter of the Marquess of Milford Haven reveals she has trained to be a psychotherapist. Lady Tatiana, 35, says her stepbrother James Wentworth-Stanley's suicide in 2006 influenced her decision. 'The lady I had therapy with [after his death] changed everything for me,' she says. 'I remember thinking, one day I want to help people the way she helped me.' Nearly 23 years after being accused – and cleared – of stealing £4.5million of Princess Diana's possessions, Paul Burrell is unveiling his third memoir on September 11. It might almost be enough to unite William and Harry, who greeted the publication of Burrell's first effort, in 2003, with the statement: 'We cannot believe that Paul, entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal.' The smart set's talking about Ghislaine's nephew taking a shot at career in politics His aunt may be serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking but that hasn't deterred Ted Maxwell from entering the political fray in east London. Ted is the nephew of Ghislaine Maxwell, one-time lover and associate of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. One of Kevin Maxwell's seven children by his ex-wife, Pandora Warnford-Davis, Ted's website proclaims: 'Ted for Bethnal Green West… standing for our community, not a political party.' His paternal grandfather, Robert Maxwell, was Labour MP for Buckingham before acquiring Mirror newspapers and plundering £440million from the firm's pension fund. Ted's other grandad, John Warnford-Davis, once put up a sign by the family swimming pool. 'We don't swim in your toilet,' it read. 'Please don't pee in our pool.' Broadcaster Emma Barnett, who hosts the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, is waging an equal rights campaign – for fellow tea drinkers. She says: 'I don't drink coffee and never have, but I do know how particular coffee drinkers are allowed to be and I am sounding the bell for tea drinkers to have the same rights.' 'I have become meticulous about how I have my tea,' adds Emma, 40, who specifies: 'Four-minute brew time followed by a dash of full-fat milk.' Very fair. (Very) modern manners Millennials have just been named the UK's most fitness-focused generation, and it appears they aren't content with any old workout. I hear a new wellness movement called 'fittainment' is inspiring some of the country's beau monde to ditch nightclubs and seek out events including 2am spin classes with a live orchestra. The study, which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of lifestyle hospitality brand The Social Hub, found 19 per cent of millennials work from home so they can fit in a workout. In response, the hub has launched a wellness initiative across its hotels, with a sunrise rooftop Pilates session set to take place in Glasgow. Chief membership officer Tasha Young says: 'We see how people's needs are changing: fitness is now non-negotiable and it happens every hour of the day.' Model Elle Macpherson no longer wants to be defined by her looks. 'Being in my 60s has been a transition from being The Body to embodying something far more meaningful – greater purpose,' she says. 'I'm learning how to be of service to a wider world... writing, living with new freedom.' After nearly 40 years of marriage, it's safe to say Simon Le Bon and his wife Yasmin have one of the longest-lasting unions in showbusiness. Yet I hear it isn't all smooth sailing for the pair on the domestic front. Yasmin tells me the Duran Duran singer 'always has audiobooks on and it's so annoying, as he has it on loud in the house'. Luckily the model, who lives with Le Bon in a £5 million London mansion, has 'become really good at blanking it out.' Keep it to yourself, but... A non-monogamous celebrity couple, who've enjoyed an open marriage, have finally called it quits and are planning to announce their divorce in a matter of weeks. I hear other parties are involved. Is Boy George starting to feel remorseful about his ongoing feud with Harry Potter author JK Rowling over trans rights? I ask only as the Culture Club singer, 64, has voiced his regrets about the row. He tells me: 'The whole thing is very immature. I will be honest, some of the things I said were beneath me, and I don't want to be that person.'
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Coronation Street star Anthony Crank gets engaged to partner Craig Lomax
Coronation Street star Anthony Crank has announced his engagement to his partner Craig Lomax. The actor, 51, took to Instagram on Friday to confirm the happy news with his 17,000 followers. He posted a photograph debuting the couple's matching engagement rings, which each featured chunky gold bands and a square blue stone. He simply captioned the post: '@craig_lomax ❤️ 31/12/2016 - ????' The couple have been together for nine years and Craig also shared the same picture to his own Instagram page. Anthony is best known for playing Dean Turnbull, an all-round villain and drug dealer in the ITV soap opera. Coronation Street star Anthony Crank has announced his engagement to his partner Craig Lomax The notorious character first appeared on the show in 2022 and Anthony secured a recurring role on the show until 2024. Before making his debut on the cobbles, Anthony hosted Sunday morning show T4 from 2005 until 2005. Adding to his soap opera fame, Anthony also appeared on Hollyoaks as a character called Kenneth back in 2023. His other TV credits include appearances on Shameless, The Syndicate and Accused, among others. In Coronation Street, Dean famously left Abi Webster for dead when she tricked him into admitting he stole a sports car from the garage. She was forced to use it as a battering ram to escape a smoke-filled garage. That came just days after he abandoned her when she went into surprise early labour with her baby.
