Helen Skelton landed the role of a lifetime when she was just 25-years-old.
Having worked as a reporter for children's news shows Newsround and Sportsround, Helen became a presenter on Blue Peter.
Helen replaced the departing Zoe Salmon and became the 33rd permanent host of the much-loved children's TV show back in August 2008.
It was the biggest gig of her life, having previously worked as a waitress and barmaid as a student before becoming a host on BBC Radio Cumbria.
"I am absolutely thrilled to have been chosen," said Helen when the news was announced. "It's a dream come true to get the best job in telly and to join the series in its 50th anniversary year is a massive honour."
During her five-and-a-half year stint on the show, fearless Helen set world records and completed a number of terrifying and agonising challenges.
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In 2008 she entered the Malta Open Dance Competition with a 16-year-old wheelchair user as her partner - and they saw off 100 dancers to win the contest.
Helen became only the second woman ever to finish the 78-mile Namibian Ultra marathon in 2009, taking 23 hours and 45 minutes, then just three weeks later she ran the London Marathon.
The daredevil also achieved two Guinness World Records while kayaking down the entire length of the River Amazon for Sport Relief in 2010.
The record holder completed the longest solo journey by kayak and the longest distance in a kayak in 24 hours by a woman.
Helen also took part in many other challenges for Comic and Sport Relief, including a tightrope walk between the two chimneys at Battersea Power Station and she was the first person to reach the South Pole using a bicycle.
The presenter also had some different roles, reporting on the tennis from Wimbledon and taking part in the 2012 Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end and Helen announced her departure from Blue Peter in August 2013.
"I have been so lucky over the last five years. I have travelled the world, met amazing people, been part of some unbelievable adventures and I have loved every second of it," explained Helen.
"However, Blue Peter is a 24 hours a day, 365 days a year job, and with so many exciting new projects in the pipeline, I can't be there as much as I would like, so I've made the difficult decision to hang up my badge."
Helen was immediately replaced by CBBC colleague Radzi Chinyanganya, who was already presenting on the channel on Match Of The Day Kickabout and Saturday morning show Wild.
But she didn't go alone, as she took one of the Blue Peter dogs with her when she left the show in September that year.
Barney the dog, who had joined the team in September 2009, was a former stray who was given to Helen Skelton by the Dogs Trust.
In 2020, she told Country Living: "I got Barney when I moved to London because I really struggled to settle. I was a country girl living in London at the age of 24 for the first time ever. My friends always joke that I like dogs more than a lot of people, but that is true!"
According to Blue Peter, Barney found the perfect home with Helen and received almost as much fan mail as his owner.
When she decided to depart for good, Barney also had to leave and is happily enjoying his retirement at home with Helen.
Helen remained on our screens after Blue Peter as she became a presenter of live FA Women's Super League football matches for the BT Sport channel and occasional host of Countryfile.
She now loves to update her fans on social media, but it wasn't always the case as Helen once quit Twitter.
Back in 2012, Helen closed down her account after revealing she was struggling to cope with negative comments from vile trolls.
Posting a final message, she tweeted: "Turns out I don't have very thick skin after all so I am closing my twitter account. Enjoy the games. Signing off, skelts x"
Helen is now very active on Twitter and Instagram - with thousands of people following her for updates.
It was actually on the presenter's Instagram story where she announced the sad news she had broken up with her husband Richie Myler.
Helen, who tied the knot with the professional rugby player in December 2013, announced they have broken up and he has moved out of the family home.
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."
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."
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 and she felt "crushing loneliness".
The former couple returned home to the UK in June 2017 when Richie signed a three-year deal with Leeds Rhinos and built their dream home in the Yorkshire countryside.
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