HELEN Skelton has been seen without her wedding ring for the first time since dramatically splitting from her husband.
The heartbroken Countryfile star, 38, revealed on Monday that Leeds Rhinos rugby ace Richie Myler had left her after nine years together.
The bombshell news came just four months after she and the player 31, welcomed a third child.
In pictures taken earlier this week Helen was seen making a phonecall near the Leeds home that they once shared.
The wedding ring that once took pride of place nowhere to be seen in the series of snaps.
The Celeb Report revealed last night that since the breakdown of the marriage — thought to be several weeks ago — he has started a new romance with a young businesswoman.
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A source said: “Richie appears to have been spending a lot of his free time with this younger, successful businesswoman. They are now in the early stages of a relationship.”
Helen posted a short message confirming the end of their relationship on Monday, accompanying it with two broken-heart emojis.
She wrote: “Very sad to say that Richie and I are no longer a couple. He has left the family home. We will be doing our best to co parent our small children.”
A friend of the couple said: “Helen has known something hasn’t been right in the marriage for a while now.
“She was absolutely dumbstruck when it finally ended. The split has been incredibly tough on Helen.
“She is being supported by her family and friends who are all rallying around her. Everyone is in a state of shock at their break up.”
Richie, who has also taken off his wedding ring, was contacted by The Celeb Report but did not respond.
The pair met through friends and started dating in 2011, before getting married in December 2013.
In 2015, Helen moved to France with Richie after he started to play for the Catalan Dragons before coming back to the UK to live in Leeds.
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After making her split announcement on social media, she shared another post about the stresses of motherhood that showed how emotional she was feeling.
It read: “A mama is always full of emotions, full of love, full of anxiety and worries, full of exhaustion and lack of energy, full of mum guilt and doubt, full of pride in her kids, full of pure joy.
“She feels it all, that’s the beauty of her, she carries it all, too. And yet she gets up every day and does it all over again.”
