Helen Skelton has shared her secret to staying fit, and despite being known for her punishing physical challenges over the years, she has admitted that she now only exercises if she enjoys it.
You won’t catch the TV presenter working out "for going to the gym’s sake", as although she loves getting outside to hike, run and play golf, the mum-of-three insists she’ll only do it for how it makes her feel, rather than how it makes her look.
Exercising for Mental Health
Speaking to the Press Association, Helen said: “I’ve always said I exercise to keep my head peachy, rather than my bum peachy. I do it for me – you’ve got to enjoy it. I can’t just go to the gym for going to the gym’s sake – I sort of wander around and chat to people, and I’m like ‘I don’t really know why I’m here’. I’m the kind of person that needs to have something to train for.”
With that, Helen, 43, is currently training for the Great North Run half-marathon, which is set to take place on September 13. She said: "I’ve done it loads over the years. My brother does it every year. He’s super-competitive, but I do it to get through it and say I can do it. I can’t nag the kids about doing stuff if I don’t do it myself. So well-being-wise, I always have something to train for."
Training Routine and Future Plans
She shared how she runs about three times a week, hikes, plays golf, and swims. "This time of year is good for running," she says, "So I go out early, before the kids are awake, or they’ll be on their bikes," Helen added.
But once she’s done the Great North Run, Skelton happily admits she’ll just turn her exercise attention on to something else. And it could be anything – after all, she’s a former Blue Peter presenter who’s completed the 78-mile Namibian ultra marathon, kayaked the entire length of the Amazon River, and was the first person to reach the South Pole using a bicycle (as well as cross country skis and a kite ski).
She says: "My friends always laugh because they’re like ‘You just decide to do something about 11 weeks before’. People train a whole year for something, and I’m like ‘Yeah, but I’d get bored’. So when I’ve done the Great North Run in September, I’ll think ‘OK, what should I do next? And then I’ll train for something else. But I’m a big believer in doing stuff you enjoy."
Life in Cumbria
Helen has lived in Cumbria, where she grew up, with her three children – Ernie, aged 11, Louis, aged nine, and Elsie, aged four – since she split from her husband, rugby player Richie Myler, in 2022.
She loves hiking in the beautiful Lake District nearby, and has just done a two-hour Go Outdoors guided family community hike from Yew Tree Farm – one of Beatrix Potter’s old properties – starting with story time led by Skelton to commemorate Potter’s 160th birthday.
