Helen Skelton has the last laugh after being 'blindsided' by Richie Myler split

14 October 2023 , 13:18

691     0

Helen has released a book (Image: PA)

Helen Skelton is dancing to the bank after her Strictly success....with more riches on the way.

The TV star - whose new autobiography is set to be a best-seller - banked more than half a million quid last year. Accounts for the 40-year-old's Skelton Productions Ltd show she paid £110,591 in corporation tax, which is 19% of income.

That means she raked in at least £580,000 in 12 months - and probably higher with costs such as travel and accountancy bills deducted.

Papers filed with Companies House show her business, set up to manage her showbiz income, has more than doubled in value. It grew in value to £341,505 last year - up from £168,960 in 2021 - with healthy assets of nearly £535,000, including £415,000 in cash.

Helen has opened up in her book (Getty Images)

Helen has talked about her marriage breakdown (GC Images)

Mum-of-three Helen's income is likely to have been bolstered by her bid to land the Glitterball trophy last year. She waltzed to the Strictly Come Dancing final last year and then took part in a spin-off UK arena tour.

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness

Hard-working Helen’s impressive wealth also comes from her kids clothes line, Toy Breaker. She was also paid a hefty BBC salary for her weekly 5 Live radio show - which she quit in August to spend more time with her children.

The former Countryfile and Blue Peter host is now set to bank more riches with new autobiography In My Stride. Four publishers went head-to-head at auction for the rights to the book, which went on sale this week.

In it, she reveals how her heartache of separating from rugby player husband Richie Myler sparked her decision to sign up for Strictly. Helen told how she was "blindsided" when Myler, 33, called time on their eight-year marriage in April 2022.

She penned: "I was in shock. I know that following break-ups, people often say they didn’t see it coming and it sounds like a cliche, but that was me."

Helen told how her time on Strictly Come Dancing - with pro partner Gorka Marquez - helped rebuild her confidence. She wrote: “In week two, Gorka asked me why I didn’t feel sexy. It was an awkward question that immediately made me cringe.

“Why ask me that?! I was just there for the banter. I have never been sexy, I was the cute and funny type. He was asking a woman with three children under six, whose husband had just left her and was with another woman, TO BE SEXY. I thought, ‘Who would feel good about themselves in that scenario?’.”

Helen told how she finally had the courage to wear suspenders for a sexy routine in Musicals Weeks. She said: “We had found a dance which let me own my own moment and be the boss.”

John Siddle