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Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Near-death experience as a kid meant I had to battle my biggest fear to take part in celeb shark show, says Helen George
SHE'S best known for playing glamorous nurse Trixie Franklin on hit BBC drama Call The Midwife, but fans are about to see a very different side to Helen George. The actress, 41, will battle her deepest dread of putting her head underwater as she takes part in a radical new ITV reality show, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters. 4 Helen George will take part in radical new ITV reality show, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Helen is best known for playing glamorous nurse Trixie Franklin on hit BBC drama Call The Midwife Credit: BBC Speaking to The Sun on Sunday ahead of the first episode on ITV1 tomorrow night, Helen reveals that she developed the fear, known as aquaphobia, after experiencing a horrendous near-death experience in a swimming pool as a child. Helen said: 'I was terrified of putting my head underwater. I have a real deep-rooted fear. 'I used to love the water when I was really young, but I went to a swimming party when I was six. 'They put those weird Nineties foam mats down. They're massive yoga mats, really. 'I just remember this moment of being stuck underneath one and not being able to get out. There was that fear of being trapped. I finally made my way up to the surface. 'But I remember no one noticing that I'd gone, and no one really believing what I said, because no one had seen it. From then, I got it in my head about not putting my head underwater. 'I have a really strong image of looking up to the top of the swimming pool and the mats were on top and no one knew I was down there.' Helen confronts her fear head-on in the new five-part series, in which celebs plunge into the ocean and learn to swim with man-eating sharks, without a cage, off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. 'It's not safe' She is thrown in at the deep end with comedian Lenny Henry, Countdown's Rachel Riley, McFly bassist Dougie Poynter, stand-up comic Ross Noble, Amandaland actress Lucy Punch and TV presenter Ade Adepitan. Mum-of-two Helen was spurred to push herself as she realised her kids Wren, seven, and three-year-old Lark were becoming more confident in the water than she was. Call The Midwife actress looks nothing like her character after glam transformation and very sexy dress She also opened up to her property developer boyfriend Dan Innes about her fear, which he had not noticed on their holidays. Helen explained: 'My kids know that I am scared of the water, and my seven-year- old is more confident in the water than I am, and I realised I've got to do something about that as it's not safe. 'I hadn't even told Dan how scared of the water I was, and he was like, 'But you got in the sea on holiday in Cornwall with me. I didn't know you were so scared'.' It's the first reality TV show Helen has been in since BBC's Strictly ten years ago. She is stepping back into the limelight two years after splitting from actor Jack Ashton, the father of her two children, who she met on Call The Midwife when he played Reverend Tom Hereward. Soon after, she grew close to her co-star Olly Rix, who was cast as her businessman husband Matthew Aylward. My kids know that I am scared of the water and my seven-year-old is more confident in the water than I am. I realised I've got to do something about that When the offer to swim with sharks came in, Helen explained that she felt compelled to take part, even if it did leave her feeling exposed. She said: 'I'm an actor, I play other people's vulnerability, so playing my own and being vulnerable on screen without make-up was hard. It's so scary. I play a character known for wearing lots of make-up, and that's her thing — so not having that to hide behind was new. 'There's no hair and make-up. I've not done reality since Strictly, which is obviously a very different beast. So revealing yourself on screen is being vulnerable.' Helen was fortunate that producers at Call The Midwife, where she has worked for 13 years, let her finish filming a week early so she could jet out to the Caribbean last autumn to tackle her fear. Helen said: 'I get asked to do all sorts of things, but no one's ever asked me to do a show with sharks. I realised it was probably never going to happen again. It did sound like an amazing premise for a show, so I couldn't turn it down. 'Hearing how mad an idea it was, I thought I had to do it. 4 The celebrities taking part in new ITV show, from left, Ade, Ross, Helen, Lenny, Lucy, Dougie and Rachel Credit: PA 4 The scary predators will get up close with celebs in new show Credit: Mediadrumimages/KenKieferII 'I had to get some time off from Call The Midwife. They kindly gave me a week off so I could make it out. 'For me, putting my head under- water was the scariest thing I could do, so the idea that sharks would be involved made it even scarier.' Before filming began, Helen confessed she almost pulled out, but she forced herself to conquer her inner critic, revealing: 'I had that feeling you get before a funeral — you know, that something bad is about to happen and you've got to face it. 'I had a few moments before I flew out where I thought, 'Oh my God, am I actually going to do this?'. 'Before our first day filming, I knew that something big was happening, and I didn't know we were going to be cage-diving with sharks on the first day, just to really throw us in at the deep end. 'I did wake that night in a panic thinking, 'What am I doing here?'.' 'I burst into tears' In the first days of the show, Helen struggled so much to immerse herself underwater that bosses almost gave her a separate snorkelling challenge. She said: 'When we were doing the training in the swimming pool, I said to everyone, 'I haven't put my head underwater for 15 to 20 years. I'm really scared of swimming'. 'I hadn't realised how bad it was and I burst into tears. It felt like everyone else was really progressing and I wasn't. So at one point, the producers were going to put me on a junior snorkelling course, instead of the actual deep-sea diving experience. 'And then I thought, 'F**k this, I want to join in with everybody else'. 'It wasn't a big, beautiful moment that I'd imagined, where I saw a beautiful fish and I wanted to swim. 'It was more I felt like I was being left behind and I wouldn't have the same experience as my friends. 'When we were training in the swimming pool, I said to everyone, 'I'm really scared of swimming'. I hadn't realised how bad it was and I burst into tears' 'I had to put my big girl pants on and get on with it, or I was going to miss out on these incredible experiences.' Helen added: 'We kept hearing gossip from the crew that we might swim with dolphins, but I think they were dangling a carrot. We never saw a single dolphin!'
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Near-death experience as a kid meant I had to battle my biggest fear to take part in celeb shark show, says Helen George
SHE'S best known for playing glamorous nurse Trixie Franklin on hit BBC drama Call The Midwife, but fans are about to see a very different side to Helen George. 4 Helen George will take part in radical new ITV reality show, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Helen is best known for playing glamorous nurse Trixie Franklin on hit BBC drama Call The Midwife Credit: BBC Speaking to The Sun on Sunday ahead of the first episode on ITV1 tomorrow night, Helen reveals that she developed the fear, known as Helen said: 'I was terrified of putting my head underwater. I have a real deep-rooted fear. 'I used to love the water when I was really young, but I went to a swimming party when I was six. 'They put those weird Nineties foam mats down. They're massive yoga mats, really. READ MORE ON CELEBRITIES 'I just remember this moment of being stuck underneath one and not being able to get out. There was that fear of being trapped. I finally made my way up to the surface. 'But I remember no one noticing that I'd gone, and no one really believing what I said, because no one had seen it. From then, I got it in my head about not putting my head underwater. 'I have a really strong image of looking up to the top of the swimming pool and the mats were on top and no one knew I was down there.' Helen confronts her fear head-on in the new five-part series, in which celebs plunge into the ocean and learn to swim with man-eating sharks, without a cage, off the island of Bimini in the Most read in News TV 'It's not safe' She is thrown in at the deep end with comedian Mum-of-two Helen was spurred to push herself as she realised her kids Wren, seven, and three-year-old Lark were becoming more confident in the water than she was. Call The Midwife actress looks nothing like her character after glam transformation and very sexy dress She also opened up to her property developer boyfriend Dan Innes about her fear, which he had not noticed on their holidays. Helen explained: 'My kids know that I am scared of the water, and my seven-year- old is more confident in the water than I am, and I realised I've got to do something about that as it's not safe. 'I hadn't even told Dan how scared of the water I was, and he was like, 'But you got in the sea on holiday in Cornwall with me. I didn't know you were so scared'.' It's the first reality TV show Helen has been in since BBC's Strictly ten years ago. She is stepping back into the limelight two years after splitting from actor Soon after, she grew close to her co-star My kids know that I am scared of the water and my seven-year-old is more confident in the water than I am. I realised I've got to do something about that When the offer to swim with sharks came in, Helen explained that she felt compelled to take part, even if it did leave her feeling exposed. She said: 'I'm an actor, I play other people's vulnerability, so playing my own and being vulnerable on screen without make-up was hard. It's so scary. I play a character known for wearing lots of make-up, and that's her thing — so not having that to hide behind was new. 'There's no hair and make-up. I've not done reality since Strictly, which is obviously a very different beast. So revealing yourself on screen is being vulnerable.' Helen was fortunate that producers at Call The Midwife, where she has worked for 13 years, let her finish filming a week early so she could jet out to the Caribbean last autumn to tackle her fear. Helen said: 'I get asked to do all sorts of things, but no one's ever asked me to do a show with sharks. I realised it was probably never going to happen again. It did sound like an amazing premise for a show, so I couldn't turn it down. 'Hearing how mad an idea it was, I thought I had to do it. 4 The celebrities taking part in new ITV show, from left, Ade, Ross, Helen, Lenny, Lucy, Dougie and Rachel Credit: PA 4 The scary predators will get up close with celebs in new show Credit: Mediadrumimages/KenKieferII 'I had to get some time off from Call The Midwife. They kindly gave me a week off so I could make it out. 'For me, putting my head under- water was the scariest thing I could do, so the idea that sharks would be involved made it even scarier.' Before filming began, Helen confessed she almost pulled out, but she forced herself to conquer her inner critic, revealing: 'I had that feeling you get before a funeral — you know, that something bad is about to happen and you've got to face it. 'I had a few moments before I flew out where I thought, 'Oh my God, am I actually going to do this?'. 'Before our first day filming, I knew that something big was happening, and I didn't know we were going to be cage-diving with sharks on the first day, just to really throw us in at the deep end. 'I did wake that night in a panic thinking, 'What am I doing here?'.' 'I burst into tears' In the first days of the show, Helen struggled so much to immerse herself underwater that bosses almost gave her a separate snorkelling challenge. She said: 'When we were doing the training in the swimming pool, I said to everyone, 'I haven't put my head underwater for 15 to 20 years. I'm really scared of swimming'. 'I hadn't realised how bad it was and I burst into tears. It felt like everyone else was really progressing and I wasn't. So at one point, the producers were going to put me on a junior snorkelling course, instead of the actual deep-sea diving experience. 'And then I thought, 'F**k this, I want to join in with everybody else'. 'It wasn't a big, beautiful moment that I'd imagined, where I saw a beautiful fish and I wanted to swim. 'It was more I felt like I was being left behind and I wouldn't have the same experience as my friends. 'When we were training in the swimming pool, I said to everyone, 'I'm really scared of swimming'. I hadn't realised how bad it was and I burst into tears' 'I had to put my big girl pants on and get on with it, or I was going to miss out on these incredible experiences.' Helen added: 'We kept hearing gossip from the crew that we might swim with dolphins, but I think they were dangling a carrot. We never saw a single dolphin!' Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters starts tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Furious Love Island fans slam Helena as a ‘hypocrite' as she goes to war with Shakira in explosive Movie Night
Toni stepped in to defend Shakira after Meg and Helena hit out at her VILLA FURY Furious Love Island fans slam Helena as a 'hypocrite' as she goes to war with Shakira in explosive Movie Night Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LOVE Island fans were quick to point out the irony tonight as Helena slammed Shakira and Toni as "mean girls". It's the night we've all been waiting for, as the boys and girls gathered for an explosive cinema screening. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Love Island's fans raced to defend Shakira after tonight's Movie Night Credit: ITV 4 Meg and Helena hit out at Shakira after they watched a clip Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Viewers have branded Helena as a 'hypocrite' after she called Shakira a 'mean girl' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial And it didn't take long for them to start kicking off as secrets are exposed. During on clip, Shakira's comments on Helena were shown to the rest of the group. The moment showed a series of clips where Shakira slammed Helena for her behaviour. One clip showed her telling Toni that Helena needs to take of her bikini because it doesn't fit properly, another showed Shakira agreeing with Harrison after he called Helena, Harry's "bit on the side". It came after Helena repeatedly tried to interfere with Shakira's relationship, from whispering sexual comments in his ear during the Heart Rate challenge, to taking swipes at Shakira and even asking Harry to the Hideaway while he was in a couple with Shakira. After watching the clip, a shocked Helena said: "Fuck me you were gunning for me in that… it is giving mean girl energy… we're not in school." While some of the Islanders said Shakira's comments were "personal". Shakira replied: "I've not just said those things for no reason, you've hurt me several times that's why I said it." Being the bigger person, Shakira apologised for the comment, saying: "It was nasty, but i intended it to be nasty, that's why I said it." But viewers have slammed have branded Helena as a "hypocrite" after having earned herself the reputation as a "meal girl" by viewers. One wrote: "I actually can't stand Helena….. she's a flipping hypocrite and spiteful." A second posted: "Helena has been trying to copy her, took her connections as soon as she saw she was interested and was chatting shit about her but Shakira is the mean girl." A third said: "The audacity of Helena to call anyone a mean girl, lmao she need a sl*p!! I'm so glad Shakira didn't back down AND didn't take her comments back. Had Helena stuttering like the fool she is." Over the course of her time in the villa, Helena has ruthlessly gone after the other girls men and bitched out them behind their back. Many fans have branded Meg, Helena and Emily as "mean girls" after taking jibes about Shakira and Toni. Elsewhere, when Meg's clip is played, it prompts an argument that comes out of nowhere between Meg and Shakira. As Meg comments on her and Toni strutting down their catwalk, Shakira points out the irony of calling out her and Toni for saying things behind Meg's back: "There's no halo on your head either." Toni wades in to support Shakira saying "nobody here is innocent".
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Furious Love Island fans slam Helena as a ‘hypocrite' as she goes to war with Shakira in explosive Movie Night
LOVE Island fans were quick to point out the irony tonight as Helena slammed Shakira and Toni as "mean girls". It's the night we've all been waiting for, as the boys and girls gathered for an explosive cinema screening. 4 Love Island's fans raced to defend Shakira after tonight's Movie Night Credit: ITV 4 Meg and Helena hit out at Shakira after they watched a clip Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Viewers have branded Helena as a 'hypocrite' after she called Shakira a 'mean girl' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial And it didn't take long for them to start kicking off as secrets are exposed. During on clip, Shakira's comments on Helena were shown to the rest of the group. The moment showed a series of clips where Shakira slammed Helena for her behaviour. One clip showed her telling Toni that Helena needs to take of her bikini because it doesn't fit properly, another showed Shakira agreeing with Harrison after he called Helena, Harry's "bit on the side". READ MORE ON LOVE ISLAND It came after Helena repeatedly tried to interfere with Shakira's relationship, from whispering sexual comments in his ear during the Heart Rate challenge, to taking swipes at Shakira and even asking Harry to the Hideaway while he was in a couple with Shakira. After watching the clip, a shocked Helena said: "Fuck me you were gunning for me in that… it is giving mean girl energy… we're not in school." While some of the Islanders said Shakira's comments were "personal". Shakira replied: "I've not just said those things for no reason, you've hurt me several times that's why I said it." Most read in News TV Being the bigger person, Shakira apologised for the comment, saying: "It was nasty, but i intended it to be nasty, that's why I said it." But viewers have slammed have branded Helena as a "hypocrite" after having earned herself the reputation as a "meal girl" by viewers. One wrote: "I actually can't stand Helena….. she's a flipping hypocrite and spiteful." A second posted: "Helena has been trying to copy her, took her connections as soon as she saw she was interested and was chatting shit about her but Shakira is the mean girl." A third said: "The audacity of Helena to call anyone a mean girl, lmao she need a sl*p!! I'm so glad Shakira didn't back down AND didn't take her comments back. Had Helena stuttering like the fool she is." Over the course of her time in the villa, Helena has ruthlessly gone after the other girls men and bitched out them behind their back. Many fans have branded Meg, Helena and Emily as "mean girls" after taking jibes about Shakira and Toni. Elsewhere, when Meg's clip is played, it prompts an argument that comes out of nowhere between Meg and Shakira. As Meg comments on her and Toni strutting down their catwalk, Shakira points out the irony of calling out her and Toni for saying things behind Meg's back: "There's no halo on your head either." Toni wades in to support Shakira saying "nobody here is innocent". 4 Toni defended Shakira as Helena and Meg fired Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Disgusted Love Island fans demand Dejon is axed over explosive row with girl on Movie Night
DISGUSTED Love Island fans have demanded Dejon is axed after he a row erupted between him and Andrada on tonight's Movie Night. ITV viewers were left furious after Dejon repeatedly shut Andrada down during their exchange - branding him a "gaslighter". 2 Love Island fans have demanded Dejon is axed after his row with Andrada tonight Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 2 He shut down Andrada during tonight's explosive Movie Night Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Dejon's flirty behaviour was exposed with both Malisha and Andrada. A clip of Dejon telling Malisha was played, where he told her he was open to getting to know new people. Another clip then showed Dejon's flirty antics with Andrada in Casa Amor and in the main villa. Meg then watched Dejon kiss Andrada during a game of Truth or Dare and calling her "Babygirl". READ MORE ON LOVE ISLAND A shocked Meg replied: "Babygirl? Baby f****** girl. That's crazy." After watching it, Meg asked them: "Dejon and Andrada 'Do both of you want to rip each other's clothes off?" Dejon deflected saying he didn't want to answer questions. Andrada hits back: "That's what you do though. You don't want to answer the questions but you reverse it, so you don't look like the bad guy - just own it with chest. Most read in News TV "Yeah, but at the end of the day, I'm not." Dejon then cuts her off and says: "No, no, no, no, no, you're talking some big words." Shock moment Maya Jama slams Harry and Helena as 'embarrassing' as six islanders are axed She replies: "I'm going to stand my ground," but Dejon continues to talk over her as she demanded: "Can I speak?" He then refused to look at Andrada and insisted: "We're done." Andrada defended herself, saying she is well within her right to get to know two people, as the boys have done constantly during their time in the Villa. Harrison then asked: "Do you not think that Ben is a second option though Andrada?' It was then revealed that some Islanders think her game plan was to get back to the main villa so she could crack on with Dejon. Andrada then asked whoever said that to please stand up. Viewers scolded Dejon for his rude behaviour towards Andrada - with some branding him a "gaslighter". One wrote: "Dejon has lead Andrada on and now he's backtracking." A second posted: "The way Dejon spoke to Andrada was disgusting. He wouldn't let her speak because he doesn't want to hear the truth." A third commented: "How has Dejon managed to turn this on Andrada, pro gaslighter 3000." "Dejon is an All Star level Gaslighter, then rude on top. Can't win, no wheyyyy," a fourth commented. Love Island 2025 - Casa Amor girls WHO are the latest bombshells heading into the spin-off villa? The Sun exclusively reported the identities of the six beauties heading into the ITV2 spin-off villa, after it was teased during last week's episode. The Love Island newbies were seen strolling into the compound clad in swimwear - with one already having a connection to Harry. On the show's official Instagram page it teased: "Amor the merrier… who's ready for Casa Amor?" and now we can report the full line-up. Lauren Wood, 26, Emma Munro, 30 Lucy Quinn, 21 Yasmin Broom, 26 Andrada Pop, 27 Rheo Parnell, 26
