Helen Flanagan has shared that she ‘thought her kids would be better off without her’ at the height of her mental health struggles, as she reflected on the progress she’s made in 2024 in a candid new post.
Reflected on the difference between how she spent Christmas this year and 12 months earlier, the actress admitted that alongside struggling to co-parent with her ex Scott Sinclair, she felt like ‘her whole life was f****d up.’
For her first post, Helen share two snaps, one taken from her New Year trip to Bali in December 2023, and another while she spent Christmas Day ‘in bed,’ after allowing Scott to have their children for the day.
The star shared that at the time she was at the height of her mental health woes, had lost ‘all her money’ and had fallen out with multiple family members.
She wrote: ‘Just a little look on what a difference a year can make ❤️
‘This time last year: Christmas – I spent it in bed x I went to my mums for a few hours as my dad was calling me x I said to Scott he could have the kids (I live really north and he lives really south) because I wanted to take the kids to Bali for ten days for new year. So I knew I had to be fair.
Helen Flanagan has shared that she ‘thought her kids would be better off without her’ at the height of her mental health struggles, as she reflected on the progress she’s made in 2024
Reflected on the difference between how she spent Christmas this year and 12 months earlier, the actress admitted that she felt like ‘her whole life was f****d up’
‘But it really hit me out of nowhere. I said to my friends beforehand ”it’s just a day I’ll be fine”. I had bad mental health. My love life was a s**t show that year…. I didn’t look after my mental health or think. I felt so s**t and sad.
‘I felt like my whole life was f****d up now and I had the perfect family. 13 years is a long time to be with someone. My whole 20s. I had a lot of family fall-outs too and I also lost basically all my money. Me and Scott weren’t married we were engaged.
‘My mental health was so bad I thought maybe my kids would be better off without me and maybe they would be better off with their dad as he’s more level headed than me. I love my kids more than words can say but when you are not well you’re not well.’
Helen shared that her mental state worsened after she travelled to Bali with her children for the New Year, due to her concerns about an upcoming theatre tour that would uproot her family.
‘New Year’s Eve – I was in Bali but I spent it in hospital with Matilda as she had Bels Palsy and half of her face was paralysed which was just horrible as she’s my absolute princess. It was a horrendous journey over with 3 little kids , my mum did say to leave the kids and she would look after them and for me to go, but I like my kids with me x
‘I went with my friend Beth who helped me with child care. I remember feeling very heavy mentally and stressed as I signed up to do a six months theatre tour that started the middle of January and I was so excited about it and I wanted to do it so much but I was very stressed about leaving the kids. Very very stressed.
‘I looked at having them home schooled so they could be with me but then I felt that wasn’t fair on them as they were settled and their dad didn’t want them home schooled.
‘Majority of the tour was down south and I had the worst mum guilt wondering how was I going to do it, especially with their daddy working away too.’
The star shared that at the time she was at the height of her mental health woes, had lost ‘all her money’ and had fallen out with multiple family members
In a second post, the former Coronation Street star shared a snap of how she’d spent Christmas this year, and said she’s in a far better place than 12 months earlier
She shared that over the past year she’s made steps to focus on her mental health, and has begun dating her new partner Robbie Talbot
Robbie has been living in the former Coronation Street star’s home since last month, eight months since the pair began dating
Helen went onto pull out of the theatre tour, and has since shared that at the time she was struggling with psychosis after suffering a reaction to her ADHD medication.
In a second post, the former Coronation Street star shared a snap of how she’d spent Christmas this year, with her children and her parents at home.
She shared that over the past year she’s made steps to focus on her mental health, and has begun dating her new partner Robbie Talbot.
She wrote: ‘Christmas this year – my babies at my mum and dad’s x meant so much to me x
‘New Year’s Eve – I met Robbie in 2024 who is the loveliest funniest guy and we had such a fun night x
‘In 2024 I prioritised my mental health, made up with a lot of people that I loved and came to a bit of peace x
‘My head is 70% clearer than it was this time last year and for that I am grateful x Of course my life isn’t perfect no one’s is and everyone has s**t going on but I have a lot to be grateful for x
‘I remember how I felt in my head this time last year, I felt my head could have exploded and I felt at that time that I needed some tablets to just function x
‘Just thought I’d share this if anyone else is in a really bad place… You can work though things and things can get better no matter how heavy and hard they feel.’
Helen previously revealed Scott, 35, had blocked her despite the pair sharing three children.
The pair broke up in 2022 after thirteen years together, four of which they were engaged. They have three children together.
Speaking openly about the split for the first time last month, Helen said the pair weren’t right for each other.
Speaking on The Mail’s The Life of Bryony podcast, she said: ‘You read so much about how you don’t need a man to make you happy.’
‘No, I don’t need a man to make me happy, but it really f*****g helps when you’re in a healthy relationship to a toxic one.’
Helen said that her relationship with Scott was unhealthy.
‘No disrespect to the father of my children, you know, I’ve had three children with him, and I always have a lot of love for him.’
‘We’re both good people, but together we were very toxic. I think a toxic relationship can just damage your mental health a lot. Especially when you struggle with your mental health anyway.’
‘I mean, I’m on block at the moment on Scott’s phone. I really am. I’m on block.’
‘We do each other’s f*****g head in. But I know he always will have a love for me, you know, you always have kind of a respect for each other, I know he’s not a bad guy, we’ve just got our own s**t going on.’
‘And I think because we’re together from so young, we were just 19, and I just don’t think we had that time to grow until we’ve split up, we just didn’t work.’
Robbie has been living in the former Coronation Street star’s home since last month, eight months since the pair began dating.
It comes after Helen hit back at cruel trolls who said her lips looked ‘atrocious’ in a recent get-ready-with-me make-up clip shared on her Instagram
Asked by Bryony about her new relationship, she said: ‘He’s lovely.’
‘Everybody loves him. I just met him at a bar. I literally, I just, I could not stop laughing at this guy.’
‘My boyfriend’s actually the funniest guy I’ve ever met. He’s got two kids and he’s, he’s really beautiful with my children.’
‘I think that’s what made me fall more in love with him because he’s so good with my mental health things and that’s the main thing for me that I need.’
‘I need someone that’s good for me mentally and emotionally, that’s my top thing and that’s what I’ve realised.’
‘No disrespect to the father of my children, I’ll always have that love for him, but he didn’t know how to cope with me or didn’t know how to do that, and not everybody does, but because the man that I’m with now really knows how to do that, it makes me happy.’
For confidential support contact The Samaritans on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org.