Moments before drunken stars at the National Television Awards afterparty was kicked out by the staff after 1am, a couple quietly slipped out together, ahead of the crowds.
BBC Morning Live co-hosts Helen Skelton And Gethin Joneswho spent a year denying rumors of an off-screen romance were preparing for the exit.
In an exclusive photo obtained by the Daily Mail, 43-year-old Helen can be seen picking up the skirts of her £750 strapless Solace London dress as they left the O2 Arena’s exclusive Amex Lounge side by side.
Her co-host, 48, kept his head down in an apparent attempt not to draw attention to their joint exit.
Sadly, tongues were already wagging as they had both let their guard down and partied alongside TV executives, the cast of last year’s I’m A Celeb, Love Islanders and one very single Joey Essex.
Onlookers watched as the couple chatted intimately at the star-studded party.
BBC Morning Live co-hosts Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones headed for the exit just before the stars of the National Television Awards after-party were kicked out after 1am
Helen and Gethin, who have spent a year denying rumors of an off-screen romance, appeared together at the TV awards ceremony at the O2 Arena yesterday
‘Helen and Gethin were the talk of the town; they were all over each other, there was no hiding it,” said one.
‘It was like they couldn’t be apart. He moved and she moved next, always looking where the other was and always within ten feet of the other’s path.
Finally, after seeing with our own eyes that they were quite in love with each other, we decided to approach them.
So far, they have refused to participate in any conversation about the status of their relationship.
The usually cheerful and charming Gethin became visibly reluctant and even a little uncomfortable with our questions. He refused to discuss any romance with Helen.
Meanwhile, she laughed off the questions. A few minutes later they left the building together, perhaps worried that too many people had seen them together.
A source close to the couple within the BBC confirmed to us: ‘Gethin is adamant in denying the rumours, while Helen thinks they should just let it all out.’
Despite their obvious chemistry on the Morning Live sofa, our photo of Helen and Gethin is the first time anything other than a friendship has been captured between the couple since Helen joined the show in 2023.
It was in 2020 that the Beeb began looking for two permanent presenters to host its new breakfast show, in the hope of finding the next Richard and Judy.
Another hugely popular married couple like Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan – who launched ITV’s This Morning in 1988 and defined morning lifestyle TV for a generation – was exactly what BBC bosses wanted if they wanted to win a ratings war with their long-running ITV rivals.
It was agreed that, despite not being together, Helen and Gethin had enough in common to make it a success: both had presented Blue Peter and taken part in the BBC’s flagship Saturday evening show, Strictly, and so were already known to much of their core audience.
But 18 months later it seemed the Beeb had found what it was looking for, when the Mail’s Katie Hind revealed rumors they were enjoying more than just an on-screen partnership.
One source revealed the pair were ‘very happy together’.
A week earlier, the pair were even spotted leaving a spa near Gethin’s home in Cheshire – 110 miles from Helen’s home in Cumbria – where onlookers reported they were ‘all over each other’. Mother-of-three Helen was also seen leaving the venue with a suitcase.
Despite rumors that the relationship came to light over a year ago, sources have been patiently waiting for the pair to make their romance public.
Priya Jaswal, a single lady fresh off Love Island, “spent the first half of the afterparty looking for Aidan Murphy and the second half on the couch with Joey Essex,” said an onlooker
They were also spotted after filming for Morning Live at BBC headquarters in Salford, when they set off together on motorbikes and headed to breakfast in central Manchester.
What makes their story so much more compelling is that they have both had their hearts broken in the past.
Cumbrian-born Helen was left devastated when her husband of eight years, rugby player Richie Myler, left 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 Leeds Rhinos president Andrew Thirkill, the club he played for from 2017 to 2023. Former Radio 5 presenter Helen announced on Instagram that Richie had ‘left the parental home’.
Meanwhile, Cardiff-born Gethin struggled for several years to come to terms with his 2011 split from fellow Welsh star, opera singer Katherine Jenkins.
Despite rumors that the relationship surfaced over a year ago now, sources have been patiently waiting for the pair to go public with their romance and finally tell viewers about their relationship.
Maybe our photo will give them the push they need.
Or they should take a look at Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks’ book, because despite being co-hosts on KissFM, they have no problem hiding their relationship.
But the reality star couple avoided the press at the event and after-party as it appears they are not ready to answer tough questions about their romance, which appears to have started less than two months after Olivia’s split from footballer Bradley Dack.
Instead, the two like to be affectionate in front of the cameras without being questioned.
There was indeed love in the air at the party; Towie star Joey Essex, 36, walked around the room and eventually found a single lady fresh from Love Island, Priya Jaswal.
Priya, 25, left the ITV villa last month and has already split from her film partner, Aidan Murphy.
An onlooker said: ‘She spent the first half of the after party looking for Aidan and the second half on the sofa with Joey Essex.’
BBC bosses would no doubt love a similar dynamic on their Morning Live sofa.
The afterparty was typically a boozy affair, with guests drinking wine and beer from the complimentary bar while enjoying a sparse selection of food with the option of only mini pulp pork burgers or churros.
While many hung their heads and surrendered, Holly Willoughby and her This Morning successor Cat Deeley were two of those running away after the ceremony.
