Helen Skelton made a sacrifice for husband Richie Myler - but it left her feeling "crushing loneliness".
The former Blue Peter presenter, who tied the knot with the professional rugby player in December 2013, has announced that they have broken up and he has moved out.
The devastating split comes just four months after the couple welcomed their third child, Elsie Kate, and they are also parents to boys Ernie, six, and Louis, four.
"Very sad to say that Richie and I are no longer a couple. He has left the family home," wrote Helen in an emotional statement posted on her Instagram stories on Monday
"We will be doing our best to co parent our small children."
The pair have broken up after eight years of marriage, during which Helen left everything she knew behind for her husband.
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When Richie switched teams to the Catalan Dragons, Helen and their sons moved with the rugby league star to France in September 2015.
They relocated to Perpignan in the south of the country, but the Countryfile presenter admitted it was a "tough learning curve" living in a completely different country.
"I didn’t speak the language and I felt so isolated that I used to go into the local tourist office just to talk to someone who could speak English," she told the Daily Mail's You Magazine in 2018.
"The loneliness was crushing even though the French wives and girlfriends would invite me on their nights out, which was kind.
"I would try to keep up by laughing and nodding – then somebody would ask if I understood and I would say no. They thought I was bonkers."
During her time in France, Helen said she learned a lot about motherhood and different attitudes towards children, such as what babyfood they use.
She explained that French mums have no problem pulling out jars of puree if they are busy, but British mothers "feel they have to apologise" if something isn't organic or home made.
Helen also found that the French women she went out with would eat loads during meal times but she never saw them "scoff a chocolate bar" or have a takeaway.
While she was in France, Helen gave birth to second son Louis in April 2017 on the floor of their kitchen.
The fire brigade arrived but had no experience of delivering a baby, but luckily her friend was with her when she went into labour.
"I was in France and my husband was in England, and no one made it to me in time," she told The Mirror.
"So I gave birth with just my three-year-old next to me, repeatedly hitting me on the head with a plastic sword, because he thought we were playing dinosaurs.
"Terrifying. But I didn’t have a choice, I just had to get on with it."
The couple returned home to the UK in June 2017 when Richie signed a three-year deal with Leeds Rhinos.
They created their dream family home in the Yorkshire countryside, starting off a massive project to renovate a gorgeous 1850s cottage back in 2020.
"When we lived in France, we had a massive island in the kitchen, and all our friends would come over with loads of plates of food and just dip in and out. That's what we wanted to recreate here," she told Hello! magazine last year.
In December last year, Helen gave birth to baby Elsie but kept the news quiet fro a week while sharing the first few days with her family.
Alongside the photo of Richie, Helen wrote: "Can always count on dickie .... of all the things he’s said (there’s been a lot) “don’t worry I will be your lido...” while on route to hospital might be my fave. The man meant Doula. From the mouths of men. (pic from earlier this week - just haven’t posted partly because my mam likes the family what’s apps to be ahead of insta but mainly because I am still failing to find appropriate words of thanks for our @nhsengland @nhsmillion.... legends the blooming lot of them)."
Helen has often opened up about family life and revealed she is not a strict mum.
"I should be – they don’t listen to a word I say," she confessed to The Mirror in 2019. "I'm a tomboy mum.
"In my eyes, if my kids are dirty and tired, then they’re having a good time. But if I tell them to go on the naughty step, they laugh in my face."
Helen also revealed her friends who have really well-behaved kids call her home 'the house with no rules'.
"It’s because I was brought up that way," she explained. "I'd trap wild cats in the house and try to tame them. I was always up trees, covered in mud. It's how I like my kids to be.
"I'm not saying it's the way to bring up children, and it will probably bite me on the ar*e, but we have a good time.
Sadly, Helen announced that she has broken up from Richie after eight years of marriage.
Helen's statement came shortly after the mum-of-three shared a cryptic quote about the struggles of motherhood.
The Countryfile star appeared to suggest she was having a tough time when she re-shared: "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."
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