Helen Flanagan has opened up exclusively with The Mirror about her tough split from Scott Sinclair and how it left really struggling as she dealt with her mental health. Her new memoir Head & Heart is released today.
18:27, 28 Jan 2026Updated 09:38, 29 Jan 2026
Helen and Scott split in 2022(Image: Andy Buchanan/BAFTA/REX)
Helen Flanagan has confessed she felt she was being drugged and having her kids taken away following her split from Scott Sinclair. Unrelated from her split, Helen had a breakdown after an adverse reaction to her prescription medicine.
The former Coronation Street star was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Speaking about her breakdown, she told The Mirror: “It was the worst time that I’ve ever struggled with my mental health. I do think the medication was really bad for me, but I became quite addicted to it.”
Discussing her split from Scott and how it affected her, she added: “He really wasn’t playing fair. So I had quite a lot of financial stuff going on as well and the stress of solicitors. I was also totally heartbroken after David Haye.
READ MORE: Coronation Street Craig Harris star now from Death In Paradise to famous familyREAD MORE: Corrie’s Helen Flanagan slams soap after being ‘expected to parade in knickers’ aged 16
Helen with her three kids(Image: helenflanagn/Instagram)
Helen and Scott in happier times(Image: Helen Flanagan/Instagram)
“It just all became too much and I began to experience psychosis. I thought I was being watched, filmed, hunted, possibly even drugged, I was seeing things that weren’t there. It was really frightening – I thought my kids were going to be taken away, the nursery got involved.” She was supported by her parents and therapists and began to rebuild herself.
Just recently, Helen hit out at the father of her children – Scott – and branded him a “d***head” for heading on holiday rather than turning up at Charlie’s nativity. She fumed on social media: “You are a piece of sh*t. How dare you not turn up to Charlie’s nativity.”
She later admitted that women were “sometimes supposed to keep quiet, but she hated that. She said she had taken jobs which took her away from the children in order to make ends meet.
“Being away from my children gives me a lot of mum guilt, too. So, I can’t forgive Scott for stealing a lot of my time with my children. I resent him for that,” she said of balancing her home life and work life.
A source had previously claimed Scott pays for Helen’s house with the kids and their bills, but wants to downsize to a smaller property, something that Helen isn’t keen on.
“Scott pays for the house and all the bills, and he’s decided a six-bedroom place is way too big,” a source said, “Helen doesn’t want to move and is digging her heels in. She loves the place, the kids are settled at the local school, and her parents are around the corner.”
*Head & Heart by Helen Flanagan (Mirror Books, £22) is on sale now from Amazon and all good bookshops.
Helen Flanagan’s Head & Heart: Break-ups, Breakdowns and Being Rosie
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Head and Heart is a powerful, frank, and moving memoir that follows the former Coronation Street star from childhood right up to present
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