As they stepped out on the red carpet at the Pride of Britain Awards last night, they looked every inch the happy couple.
Welsh television presenter Gethin Jones, 47, put his arm around Helen Skelton, 42, who dazzled in a £663 black plunging velvet gown from the London brand Self Portrait.
It was a move the BBC Morning Live co-presenters no doubt knew would get tongues wagging and fuel the rumours of an off-on romance that have been circulating for the past eight months.
Observers might have found further evidence later that evening. Just minutes after Helen left London’s five-star Grosvenor House Hotel, where the ceremony was hosted, Gethin followed.
Much to the frustration of their 1.5million Morning Live viewers, the pair have always refused to confirm their relationship status – and television insiders say that’s a deliberate move.
Yet BBC bosses feel rather differently, I’m told, and in fact wish the pair would stop teasing their loyal fans and come clean about the true nature of their relationship.
‘There’s a common feeling among them [BBC bosses] that it’s time for Helen and Gethin to confirm where they stand and stop playing around with the viewers,’ says one. ‘It’s time for clarity.
Gethin Jones has his arm around Helen Skelton as they arrive at the Pride Of Britain Awards. They no doubt knew this would get tongues wagging and fuel the rumours of an off-on romance that have been circulating for months
‘Standing together on that red carpet has only confused viewers, who truly do want them to be an item, and it’s not fair anymore to keep the speculation going.
‘It’s starting to feel on purpose as they’re really leaning into it.’
There is certainly an element of deja vu in the gossip sparked last night. Rumours first emerged at the British Film and Television Awards in May when the pair seemed to be ‘very close’ and ‘tactile’ before leaving the event together.
Back then, as now, their representatives refused to comment on whether they were in the early stages of dating.
Not long after their joint red carpet appearance in the spring, they were spotted leaving Morning Live’s BBC headquarters in Salford on a motorbike together.
The co-stars headed for an intimate breakfast in Manchester city centre and indeed seemed to be spending an increasing amount of time together outside of the studio.
Again, at a charity ball set up by the sisters of late England rugby league star Rob Burrow, who died of motor neurone disease last year, fellow guests claimed ‘it was very clear that Helen and Gethin were together as a couple at the event’.
In June they were seen leaving a spa, Carden Park, close to Gethin’s home in Cheshire – 110 miles from Helen’s home in Cumbria.
Onlookers reported they were ‘all over each other’ and she was also seen leaving the venue with a suitcase.
The revelations came 18 months after the pair were signed by the BBC as permanent presenters to host its popular Morning Live show.
Helen hitches a lift in a cab and leaves the awards ceremony on her own
Just minutes after Helen left the Grosvenor House Hotel, where the ceremony was hosted, Gethin followed
It is undoubtedly a strategic partnership for the BBC. Producers have long been looking for the ‘next Richard and Judy’ – a couple to emulate the huge success of ITV’s married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who launched This Morning in 1998.
It was felt that a similar onscreen chemistry was exactly what the Beeb needed to win the daytime ratings war.
With slim pickings for a lovable duo, they came up with Countryfile host Helen, and Gethin, a safe pair of hands who had intermittently anchored the programme since it had first gone on air in 2020.
Bosses agreed they had enough in common to make it a success: both had presented Blue Peter and had taken part in BBC’s flagship Saturday night show, Strictly, so were already known to a big part of their key audience.
They were also, as it happened, both single.
So when the Mail on Sunday first revealed the pair were rumoured to be dating, their fans were delighted – and bosses at the Corporation wondered whether they’d finally found their dream couple.
Yet what has followed has been an endless saga of ‘are they, aren’t they?’
Less than a month after they were seen at the Cheshire spa hotel together, Gethin was spotted on the celebrity dating app, Raya.
The rugby fan was on a trip to Australia with a group of friends to watch the British and Irish Lions, when it was revealed that he was on the app and changed his location to alert prospective suitors Down Under.
Apparently, BBC bosses wish the Morning Live co-hosts would stop teasing their loyal fans and come clean about the true nature of their relationship
It appeared Gethin’s budding relationship with his Morning Live co-host had ‘cooled down significantly’ and sources said he was ‘on the prowl’ and ‘keen to meet other women’.
Or was he? The romance appeared to be back on again when they enjoyed a cosy lunch in Manchester last month the day after Gethin returned to work after the death of his father in August.
Looking relaxed in brown Adidas tracksuit bottoms and a white sleeveless top, Helen beamed as she sheltered under an umbrella, while Gethin braved the rain, walking a few steps behind.
And now with their red carpet appearance at the Pride of Britain, fans are once again eager to know if their favourite ‘television husband and wife’ are indeed an item.
And once again, despite encouragement from their bosses at the BBC, the pair’s reps are refusing to grant clarity.
One clue as to why the pair might be keeping the status of their relationship a secret is they have both had their hearts shattered in the past.
Earlier this year, the couple were seen leaving Morning Live’s BBC headquarters in Salford on a motorbike together
Cumbria-born Helen was left devastated when her husband of eight years, rugby player Richie Myler, walked out on her in April 2022, just four months after she gave birth to their third child, Elsie.
Richie quickly moved on with Stephanie Thirkill, the daughter of the president of Leeds Rhinos, the club he played for from 2017 until 2023. Former Radio 5 host Helen announced on Instagram that Richie had ‘left the family home’.
Meanwhile, Cardiff-born Gethin struggled for some years to get over his 2011 split from fellow Welsh star, opera singer Katherine Jenkins.
Katherine was thought to have ended the relationship, although she has more recently insisted it was Gethin who pulled the plug.
All the same, she moved on more quickly and married American producer Andrew Levitas in 2014.
A decade after his former fiancé’s marriage, Gethin admitted the split punctured his mental health.
He said: ‘I was engaged and then broke up. Afterwards, or even during that period, it was just awful. I remember doing BBC Radio 5 Live and going into the toilet at 5.30am going, “All right. Come on. Just focus for the next three hours, and then you can go back to being sad again.” I definitely had a bad bout of depression during that time.’
One friend added: ‘Gethin is a kind, soppy bloke who just wants to settle down. He went through a very difficult time with Katherine, it broke his heart, but now Helen seems to have put a smile on his face.
‘And, of course, Helen went through one of the worst things imaginable when Richie left her. She never thought she would be happy again.’
And yet now, judging by the smile on her face, she has re-discovered that happiness – and TV insiders think she should capitalise on it promptly. I’ve been told by people at more than one channel that Helen and Gethin, if they are romantically linked, could quickly become the most sought-after TV couple since the famous Madeley Finnegan double act. In which case, many more red carpets beckon.
