Helen Flanagan suffered a ‘breakdown’ and claimed she ‘f***ing hates co-parenting’ in an emotional Instagram post on Monday.
The Coronation Street star, 35, looked incredible while attending Manchester Pride on Sunday. However, the next day she shared her struggles with her 1.1 million followers after dropping her kids off with her ex-fiancé Scott Sinclair.
Helen shares Matilda, nine, Delilah, six, and Charlie, three, with the footballer. Their co-parenting arrangement means the kids spend part of their holidays with Scott – something Helen insists she ‘hates’.
While sobbing into the camera, Helen wailed: ‘I really, really struggle. I really struggle when they go away and I only like them going away if I’m doing something… I’m suffering really badly with anxiety at the moment’.
Her outburst came after she hit back at mum-shamers for criticising a cleavage-exposing outfit she wore to an event earlier in the week.
Helen took to Instagram to share her emotional speech, in which she explained her three children were going to her parents’ house before heading to stay with Scott.
She said: ‘So I’m just going to my mum and dad’s now, I’ve asked them to pick up the kids but it’s really hard now because I don’t want them to go and then I just f**king hate co-parenting. I really really struggle…
‘I really struggle when they go away because I only like them going away if I’m doing something. It’s really hard. It’s really hard, I made this really hard decision…
‘It’s your babies, you can’t speak the same when they go away… Some time might do me good because I had really bad anxiety recently because I haven’t had a minute because I’m always with the kids. It’s a double-edged sword…
‘When they go I want them back and when I’m with them all the time I get really overwhelmed but then f**king… I can’t drink, it makes me [shakes hands]…
‘I didn’t drink that much yesterday. I always stick to tequilas, I never drink a lot. I’m going to stop crying now but I do think it’s good to cry just to get it out. I’ve just had bad anxiety recently and I think if I go and exercise and spend some time with my friends and get some sleep and do things I can’t normally do when I’m with the kids…
‘[I need to] get myself organised with the kids going back to school, mum’s helped me get organised with uniform and stuff and all the things to remember.’
She spoke again about what she finds hardest when alone and how she is often flanked by friends.
She went on: ‘I find it difficult because when you have them all the time and then it’s the anxiety and I think “I should have been more patient here” but it is what it is. It’ll be fine. It’s just a build up of anxiety. None of it’s easy is it?
‘I’m fine. I really struggle being on my own, not just in a relationship but I’m always with one of my friends. I think this is why I love social media…
‘Because I’m always connecting with people. I’m really bad at being on my own so I’m always with my friends, I don’t like my own company. That’s enough of my breakdown. I’m going to write a list and be productive.’
Prior to her self-professed ‘breakdown’, she took to Instagram to blast ‘mum-shamers’, who criticised a plunging ensemble she wore at the weekend.
Taking to her stories to show fans her outfit for Manchester Pride, she spoke about how her boob job had given her a confidence boost after breastfeeding.
She told fans: ‘Should I be ashamed of how I look because I’m a woman and this is how I look? No, I don’t think there’s anything shameful about being confident or about being sexy. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
‘I don’t understand how that makes you a bad mum? I’m not perfect, but I try and show my children the importance of being kind.’
