Helen Skelton on leaving her job and moving to her parents' farm
She was on track to become the sound of the airwaves every Sunday morning, having hosted her popular BBC Radio 5 Live show for over a year. But last summer, broadcaster Helen Skelton unexpectedly announced that, despite working her way up to a "golden ticket" job, she was stepping down from the eponymous BBC show.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Helen pointed to work-life balance as a deciding factor in her decision to quit.
"Anyone with small kids knows that there’s certain times in your life when jobs work, and certain times when they don’t," she told The Sunday Times. "I’ve got three very busy kids who do three very different activities and most of them happen on a Sunday morning. It was just the wrong time."
"A lot of people are in the same boat," she added.
The change wasn't the only upheaval in Helen's life. Following her split from her ex-husband, England rugby league player, Richie Myler, Kate moved from Leeds back to her parents’ dairy farm in Cumbria, with her three young children in tow.
Now, Kate has set her sights back on TV, having earned her stripes on Blue Peter and Countryfile. The 2022 Strictly Come Dancing finalist joined Morning Live as a host this month.
As for her work-life balance now?
Like the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, so it's perhaps fitting then that, according to Kate, childcare on the farm is split between a tight-knit circle of family and friends. In turn, she returns the favour for other parents.
Take last week for example, when Kate found two of her friend's children retrieving cakes from her pantry, having not known they were in the house.
"I like that kind of household," she said. "It’s funny: my friend came up to visit me from London and said I live in 1985. I’m alright with that."
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