Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan has given a candid and emotional update on the difficulties her eldest daughter is facing following her high-profile split from ex-fiancé, footballer Scott Sinclair.
The Emotional Toll of Separation on the Children
In a series of honest Instagram Stories posts, the 35-year-old mother-of-three explained that while life is returning to normal after her pantomime run in Liverpool, the transition is hardest for her ten-year-old daughter, Matilda. Flanagan, who played the Evil Queen in Snow White, has just welcomed her children back after they spent Christmas with their father.
Helen and Scott Sinclair were together from 2009 until their split in 2022, and share three children: Matilda, Delilah, seven, and four-year-old son Charlie. The actress revealed that the two younger children were largely oblivious to the separation, but Matilda, who was seven when her parents parted ways, is deeply affected.
"What I find probably the most difficult is probably with Matilda," Flanagan confessed to her followers. "She's sensitive, and she takes everything very much in. And every single time that I get her back, she's in a mood with me. She's really moody. She's really sassy."
Navigating the Co-Parenting Dynamic
Flanagan described the constant adjustment period that follows each handover, stating it takes time for both the children and herself to readjust to the change in routine. She believes Matilda's behaviour stems from feeling temporarily "disowned" when she is not with her mother, despite Flanagan's efforts to reassure her.
"Regardless of mine and her dad's relationship, I always want her to have a relationship with her father," she emphasised. "I always tell her that her dad loves her and that she must love her daddy... it's totally separate."
To help bridge the gap when Matilda is at her father's home, Flanagan plans to buy her eldest daughter a mobile phone so they can FaceTime. This comes after Matilda expressed a desire for more contact during the separations.
Return to 'Mum Life' After Panto
The update comes after a period where Flanagan's life was dominated by her pantomime commitments, during which she saw little of her children, relying on her own mother for support. She has now swapped the stage for the chaos of home life, vividly illustrated by being awoken at 7am by her son Charlie needing help.
Her revelation follows a very public row with Sinclair earlier in December, when she slammed him on social media for missing their son's first nativity play to attend the Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi. Flanagan reposted his holiday snaps with the furious caption: "You really are a piece of s***... how dare you not turn up to Charlie's nativity."
Now focusing on the future, Flanagan said she plans to spend her time catching up on admin and reading scripts for an upcoming project, while navigating the ongoing complexities of shared parenting with her ex.
