Before she began dating her partner Jack Ashton, Helen George admitted she used her stint on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 as "therapy" to help her deal with her marriage breakdown.
The Call the Midwife star, who plays Trixie, married fellow actor Oliver Boot in December 2012 after meeting on the set of Hotel Babylon, but they called time on their relationship in 2015, just months before she appeared on Strictly with professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec. Her character also recently got married in the season 12 finale - see the behind-the-scenes "pressure" in the video below...
WATCH: Helen George talks about her wedding dress for the series finale on Call the Midwife
This marked a departure from the usual relationship drama surrounding the BBC dancing competition, in which the infamous "Strictly curse" has seen celebrities end their relationships and strike up romances with their professional partners, thanks to the long hours of rehearsals.
For example, Ben Cohen split from his wife Abby and began dating Kristina Rihanoff following his 2013 appearance on the show, while Stacey Dooley ended her relationship with Sam Tucknott before dating Kevin Clifton.
CALL THE MIDWIFE LATEST: Inside the stars' love lives: Helen George's 'awful' divorce, Jessica Raine's whirlwind wedding & more
Helen appeared on Strictly with Aljaz shortly after her divorce from Oliver Boot
So why did Helen and Oliver split? Neither has publicly spoken about the reasons behind their divorce, but the actress described it as "awful".
"Going through a divorce is awful," she explained. "I'd been asked to do Strictly and, strange as it sounds, I thought it would be like a sort of therapy after my divorce.
"I'd spoken to quite a few people who said how it really helped them through difficult times."
The Call the Midwife star is now in a relationship with her co-star Jack Ashton
She added: "You are focused on this one thing, it's an emotional journey. I was so naive that I thought no one would be interested in me, so that was a shock. I soon realised I didn’t want all that celebrity stuff."
Following their split, The King and I lead found love with her Call The Midwife co-star Jack, and together, the pair have welcomed two daughters together, Wren and Lark. The duo met in 2016 on the show Helen made the relationship public in 2018.
Gushing about her partner, she told Stella magazine: "All of us on the show are mates. We all hang out together and Jack always really makes me laugh. He's so unbelievably kind and down to earth, and he's such a great dad."
FIND OUT: Why Call the Midwife's Helen George and Olly Rix's emotional wedding was so realistic
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