Helen Flanagan reveals heartbreaking reason she signed up for I’m A Celeb appearance and secret ‘training’ for trials
HELEN Flanagan revealed the heartbreaking reason she signed up for her second I’m A Celeb appearance.
The former Coronation Street actress returned to the hit ITV series for the special All Stars edition in South Africa.
Helen, 34, made her special comeback to I’m A Celebrity in September 2022, just months after her split with footballer Scott Sinclair, 35.
She has now opened up on her experience in the Safari, where she said that it was a “distraction” amid the heartbreak.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the jungle legend admitted: “Unfortunately, my ex and I split two months before I went in.
“But I loved it. It was something that was a distraction for me.”
In the interview – hosted by WhichBingo.co.uk – Helen also admitted that it was “empowering” for her to have a second try at the long-running endurance show.
“It was really empowering, actually, to kind of come back as a woman, as a mother of three, 10 years later and be like, ‘actually, I know what this show is about, I can do those trials’, and I will do that.”
“I really had that in me where I was like, ‘you know I’m not a wimp. I can do these’.”
The former soap star revealed that she underwent extensive preparation for the All-Stars edition of the show.
To get herself acclimatised to heights, she would visit her local Go Ape action adventure park to practise.
She exclusively told The Sun: “I really prepped for it, I was such a geek.
“All the guys at Go Ape knew me, because I literally don’t like heights. So about two months I’d go all the time.
“It was really focused on like, ‘you can get over your fear of heights’. And I ended up doing loads of height trials.
“I did a lot of kind of like meditation way I’m thinking. You know. I really got myself, it’s all your mind and like, getting on a good mindset.
“I worked on kind of conquering a lot of fears, like heights. I mean, if someone said to me, now, go do that trial, now I wouldn’t be able to do it.
What do we know about Helen Flanagan’s new boyfriend Robbie Talbot?
HELEN Flanagan has revealed that she is in a new relationship.
While appearing on Celebs Go Dating, she confessed that she was already taken – here’s everything we know about her boyfriend Robbie Talbot.
Helen has opened up about her relationship with former footballer Robbie Talbot.
He is a decade older than the actress.
Robbie was born in Liverpool on October 31, 1979 which is how he earned his nickname Halloween Hitman in football.
He has played for a series of non-league teams such as Burton Albion, Burscough and Morcambe.
He then became a coach at Ashton in 2010.
Robbie is retired from football.
He left his role as Assistant Manager at Ashton due to family and work commitments in 2011.
It’s unknown what he has done for work since leaving football.
Helen admitted that she was dating Robbie while appearing on Celebs Go Dating.
In a first for the show, it has been revealed that her relationship had to be written into the series due to requirements that those taking part have to be single.
The pair went public at her birthday party on August 10, 2024.
“Because you have to really work on getting yourself, like, the right mindset for things like that. I think if you work with your right mindset, you can do it.
Helen also admitted that she hired a phobia coach to help her face her fears before she jetted off to South Africa.
She confirmed that she even staged secret mock trials where she had cockroaches and other critters ‘thrown on her’.
“But I definitely prepped the show. I actually, I hired like a phobia coach with animals, and, oh my god it was absolutely, like, hilarious.
It was something that was a distraction for me.
Helen Flanagan
“So I’ve got these videos of me, like, where, basically, I’d go to this, like, farm. And it was a guy that, like, has all these kind of creatures, and he’d, like, throw cockroaches.
“I’d have snakes all over me, and it literally was to the point where, like, I knew that I wanted to get there and not be scared.
“I’d hold tarantulas. I hate, I hate spiders like that, and I but I needed to do it.
“I needed to feel prepped, because I wanted to come across well, you know, so like spiders, I held cockroaches and I’d have all these bugs around me.
I'm A Celebrity: South Africa lineup
Who were the celebrities and which series were they originally on?
- Myleene Klass – series six – winner
- Jordan Banjo – series 16 – second
- Fatima Whitbread – series 11 – third place
- Phil Tufnell – Series two
- Carol Vorderman – Series 16
- Paul Burrell – Series four
- Dean Gaffney – Series six
- Helen Flanagan – Series 12
- Joe Swash – Series eight
- Janice Dickinson – Series seven
- Andy Whyment – Series 19
- Georgia “Toff” Toffolo – Series 17
- Amir Khan – Series 17
- Gillian McKeith – Series 10
- Shaun Ryder – Series 10
She added: “But it really, really, really, really helped. I actually got really good with snakes, and I was so devastated when I got there that there were no snake ones, because I was fine with them.”
However, Helen also revealed that she had a blind spot, because she forgot to train her mind to get over her fear of rats.
Realising it was too late, she stated to us: “And then just before I was going to fly, I was like ‘oh my god, I’ve not done rats.’
“That’s the one thing I’ve not covered. I’ve done heights, done spiders, I’ve done snakes, I’ve done bugs, spiders, cockroaches, everything.
“But I’ve not done rats and I don’t like them. So I paid my coach to come to Pets At Home in Bolton!”
I’m A Celebrity continues on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.