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Helen Skelton was groped live on air while pregnant

Helen Skelton has opened up about her experience of being groped live on air while pregnant [Photo: PA]
Helen Skelton has opened up about her experience of being groped live on air while pregnant [Photo: PA]

Update: The man who allegedly groped Helen Skelton live on air while she was pregnant is believed to be Scottish darts player, Ross Montgomery.

In a video obtained by the Daily Mail, Skelton is seen interviewing the 55-year-old at the BDO World Darts Championship in Hampshire.

Groped
Scottish darts player Ross Montgomery allegedly groped Helen Skelton while she was pregnant live on air [Photo: Getty]

But during the live footage, the television presenter can be seen pulling away from a brief hug after the darts player groped her.

The 55-year-old – known by fans as ‘The Boss’ – denied the claims to the newspaper: “She wasn’t groped. It was nothing more than a friendly slap on the bottom.”

He continued, “I was spoken to at the time. She was apologised to and she didn’t make a big deal of it. But using the word grope, that’s a bit much. My wife was in the crowd and it wasn’t a grope.”

The TV presenter spoke out about the incident, which took place in 2014, revealing that a male interviewee touched her backside while she was quizzing him during a sporting event.

Speaking to The Telegraph, the BBC presenter admitted what happened left her feeling “awkward” and too intimidated to complain.

“Basically, this guy grabbed me on the arse when I was presenting live telly. I felt really awkward about it. I was pregnant at the time as well. I didn’t really know what to do,” she said.

“It’s intimidating and you don’t want to be the person who is being difficult and awkward. That’s just the culture that television breeds.”

Helen Skelton was interviewing a male back in 2014, pictured here during Olympics coverage in 2016 [Photo: Getty]
Helen Skelton was interviewing a male back in 2014, pictured here during Olympics coverage in 2016 [Photo: Getty]

Though she did not reveal exactly when the incident took place, or disclose the name of the person she was interviewing, she said that her co-host, Colin Murray, was not happy when he found out what had happened and reprimanded the man.

“[Colin] kicked off and said that needs dealing with,” she said.

“It was handled brilliantly because of that. I’d never thought about complaining. I don’t want it to become my identity.”

She added: “The man in question was punished. There was a line drawn under it, and that was that.”

Helen told The Telegraph she was opening up about what happened to help shine a light on the difficulty some women face in speaking up about situations that happen at work due to embarrassment.

However, she went on to say that she believes the #MeToo movement needs “a bit of perspective”, adding “we are getting too wound up about it all, and losing the ability to actually change things.”

Last month, Holly Willoughby also drew attention to the #metoo and Time’s Up movements after hitting out at the paparazzi for taking pictures up her and other female celebrities skirts at the Brits.

“At the beginning of the night we held white roses and walked down a red carpet full of the hope and pride that comes with the #timesup campaign,” she wrote on social media, referencing the decision for attendees to carry roses to show support for the movements.

But then she added: “At the end of the night, cameras were held low to get a photo up our skirts… times apparently up on #timesup.”

Helen Skelton has opened up about her groping experience [Photo: Getty]
Helen Skelton has opened up about her groping experience [Photo: Getty]

It’s not the first time Helen Skelton has made headlines. Back in 2016, during the coverage of the Olympics, the sports presenter, came under fire for daring to, wait for it, wear a playsuit on air.

Sat next to male co-host Mark Foster, who incidentally was also wearing shorts, but all that mattered to Twitter was the visibility of Skelton’s legs.

But the fashion police weren’t done yet and just a few days later Helen found herself under scrutiny once again, this time for wearing a bra.

The subject of parenting has also seen the broadcaster draw the attention of social media too. Last year, Helen took to Twitter to admit that she’d had the “worst day of her parenting life” after being asked to leave a playgroup when her son, Ernie, had a screaming fit.

Unsurprisingly, the refreshingly honest post about her son’s meltdown was literally flooded with messages of support from other parents.

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