Adored by millions for her long-running role in Coronation Street, Helen Flanagan once appeared to have it all – good looks, a millionaire footballer partner, endless media opportunities and an estimated £3.5 million-a-year fortune.

So fans were understandably shocked this week when the actress and model announced that she has been forced to put her ‘forever home’ up for sale as she can no longer afford its upkeep.

This followed her pleas to magistrates when she appeared on speeding charges earlier this year that she is a ‘single mum’ who struggles to scrape together cash for a £10 taxi fare.

All this begged the question: how did Flanagan’s fortunes plummet so dramatically?

Now 34, Helen has been in showbusiness for almost her entire life since she began acting aged just four and soon made TV appearances in adverts for detergents Daz and Fairy Liquid.

But her big break came aged nine in 2000, when she was cast in Coronation Street in 2000 as Rosie Webster – the first child of long running characters Kevin and Sally.

Even those early performances earned her pocket money her primary school classmates could not have dreamed of: an estimated £400 per episode in her first few shows.

And that only increased in her teens as she took flight as an actress: she was nominated in 2006 for ‘Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor’ and ‘Villain of the Year’ in 2007.

Helen Flanagan began acting aged just four and soon made TV appearances in adverts for detergents Daz and Fairy Liquid
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Helen Flanagan began acting aged just four and soon made TV appearances in adverts for detergents Daz and Fairy Liquid

Helen started dating former Manchester City footballer Scott Sinclair in 2009 while the winger was playing for Wigan Athletic in the north-west
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Helen started dating former Manchester City footballer Scott Sinclair in 2009 while the winger was playing for Wigan Athletic in the north-west

Despite Sinclair proposing to the actress in 2018, the wedding never actually happened and the couple separated a few years later in 2022
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Despite Sinclair proposing to the actress in 2018, the wedding never actually happened and the couple separated a few years later in 2022

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But the real upturn in Helen’s fortunes came in 2009 when she began dating rising football star Scott Sinclair who was living in the north-west while on loan from Chelsea FC to Wigan Athletic.

At the same time her own career was flourishing as she took a break from the soap and was in huge demand for other media work which was very well paid. She was already reportedly worth £3m when she was appeared on ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ in 2012.

Between 2012-14 as well as the jungle survival show she appeared in the Big Brother franchise, panel shows like Eight Out of Ten Cats and Celebrity Juice and numerous others. And her rising profile meant there was ever increasing modeling, advertising and commercial endorsement work on offer.

All this meant ITV bosses were desperate to get her back on Coronation Street – and her soap wages are believed to have sky-rocketed when Helen agreed to return to Britain’s best-loved soap opera in 2017 as the conniving Rosie.

The move was a success for all concerned as she was nominated as both the ‘funniest’ and ‘sexiest’ female on TV that year.

It’s estimated that her personal income in this period was in the region of £500,000 a year.

Helen and Sinclair paid £840,000 in cash for their plush eight-bedroom 'forever home' near Bolton, Greater Manchester, in 2021
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Helen and Sinclair paid £840,000 in cash for their plush eight-bedroom ‘forever home’ near Bolton, Greater Manchester, in 2021

Fans were understandably shocked this week when the actress and model announced that she has been forced to put the home up for sale as she can no longer afford its upkeep
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Fans were understandably shocked this week when the actress and model announced that she has been forced to put the home up for sale as she can no longer afford its upkeep

Meanwhile her now partner Scott was reaching what would be the peak of earnings in 2013-15 when a lucrative move to Manchester City saw him earning a huge £55,000 a week.

The pair were on a roll and graced the pages of glossy celebrity magazines – Helen in glamorous dresses and Scott in sharp suits and designer glasses.

In 2018 Scott got down on one knee and proposed to Helen with an extravagant diamond ring while the pair enjoyed a family holiday at Disneyland Paris.

But if she felt her engagement meant her dreams were all coming true, the opposite was perhaps true.

The marriage never actually took place.

And the postponement of her celebrity wedding to Sinclair in 2020 was the first obvious crack in their previously high-rolling lifestyle.

They paid £840,000 in cash for their ‘forever home’ near Bolton, Greater Manchester in 2021 – and later spent tens of thousands more improving the house she is now being forced to sell.

Sadly, their relationship broke down about a year later, with the couple announcing their separation in June 2022.

Helen blamed her mental health problems, and Scott’s inability to deal with them, for the break-up of their family, but she continued to work but sporadically as she juggled her role as a single mother with media work.

It's believed that the actress has been earning less than £100,000 a year in recent years - barely 20% of what she once commanded in fees
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It’s believed that the actress has been earning less than £100,000 a year in recent years – barely 20% of what she once commanded in fees

In court in January, Helen told how she has 'basically lost all of my money'. Here she is pictured with new boyfriend Robbie Talbot
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In court in January, Helen told how she has ‘basically lost all of my money’. Here she is pictured with new boyfriend Robbie Talbot

Her last big payday was two years ago when she was paid an estimated £300,000 to return to the ‘I’m A Celebrity’ jungle, this time in South Africa, for just two weeks.

She appeared on ‘Celebrities Go Dating’ the following year. But her profile is now much lower, her earning opportunities fewer – and she is now doing less prestigious work: Flanagan has been signed up by lingerie firm Ann Summers who pay her to post sponsored Instagram posts to her 1.1 million followers.

Her new boyfriend, former non-league footballer Robbie Talbot, is not believed to be wealthy.

The 34-year-old actress’ company HJF Darling Ltd published accounts for the year to the end of August 2024 of £135,387, leaving after tax a balance of £75,615.

Of course such accounts are not a reliable way of assessing someone’s entire financial situation as there can be other assets that are not visible.

But in Helen’s case, she has been very candid: in January she told a court she had ‘lost basically all my money’.

Scott Sinclair, now playing for Bristol Rovers, is earning an estimated £2,600 a week - a large amount for some, certainly, but just 5% of what he was paid 12 years ago
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Scott Sinclair, now playing for Bristol Rovers, is earning an estimated £2,600 a week – a large amount for some, certainly, but just 5% of what he was paid 12 years ago

And indeed it’s believed she has been earning less than £100,000 a year in recent years – barely 20% of what she once commanded in fees.

But this is still healthy financially compared to the man on whom she is partially dependent for support raising her three children, Matilda, nine, Delilah, six, and Charlie, three.

Sinclair’s playing career never took off in quite the way they had hoped – as he went for ever lower wages from City to Aston Villa, Celtic, Preston North End and then the club where he’d begun Bristol Rovers.

He’s now 36, facing the stark possibility of relegation from the third tier of professional football, with his playing career and earning capacity running out of time.

Meanwhile his firm Skyrocket Ltd has been struck off after it failed to file company information on time.

The last accounts filed by Sinclair’s firm in 2022 showed just £95 in the bank and debts of £4,639.

Again he may very well have other assets not visible here – but his main income certainly has declined steeply: Sinclair now earns an estimated £2,600 a week – a large amount for some, certainly, but just 5% of what he was paid 12 years ago.

Robbie Talbot, who Helen had been living with, is not believed to be with wealthy
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Robbie Talbot, who Helen had been living with, is not believed to be with wealthy

And with her and the estranged father of her children running two households, their bills are higher than ever.

Speaking candidly on The Declutter Hub podcast this week, Helen explained: ‘It actually makes me sad that I’m going to be leaving soon because I actually put so much effort into it. When we moved I put like a lot of my savings into doing the house up and making it look really beautiful.

‘But it’s a big house. It’s an eight-bedroom house, which is obviously really hard to keep on top of.’

It seems probable her next house will have fewer bedrooms and require less upkeep.