Helen Skelton

Why organisations work with Helen Skelton

• A working BBC presenter on Countryfile, Morning Live and Radio 5 Live who hosts, moderates and interviews at broadcast standard, not as a side line.
• Two Guinness World Records set for Sport Relief, including the longest solo kayak journey down the Amazon, give her a specific credibility on endurance, preparation and fear that rehearsed speakers cannot match.
• Her 2023 memoir In My Stride, published by Headline, gives audiences a coherent account of resilience drawn from lived experience rather than a framework borrowed from academia.
• Known across a broad UK audience from Blue Peter, Countryfile and a Strictly Come Dancing final, which makes her a reliable draw for internal conferences, awards nights and customer events.

Biography highlights

• Presenter on BBC One’s Countryfile since 2014 and regular host of BBC Morning Live.
• Blue Peter presenter from 2008 to 2013, the 33rd in the programme’s history.
• Two Guinness World Records from the 2,010-mile solo kayak down the Amazon for Sport Relief in 2010.
• Guinness World Record for the fastest 100 km by kite ski, set on the 2012 South Pole expedition.
• Runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing series 20 in 2022 with Gorka Marquez.
• Author of In My Stride: Lessons Learned Through Life and Adventure, Headline, 2023.

Biography

The Amazon is not a training ground. Helen Skelton kayaked 2,010 miles of it, alone, in 2010 for Sport Relief, taking two Guinness World Records in the process. Two years later she reached the South Pole by a mix of bicycle, skis and kite ski, setting a further record along the way. These are the facts that tend to open any introduction of her, and they are the right place to start, because the speaking work sits on them.

The broadcast career gives the speaking a second foundation. She joined Blue Peter in 2008, became the programme’s 33rd presenter, and stayed until 2013. Since 2014 she has presented Countryfile on BBC One, with regular slots on BBC Morning Live and a Sunday show on BBC Radio 5 Live. The polish audiences see on those programmes is what clients hire when she hosts conferences, moderates panels or presents awards.

The speaking content draws on all of it. Her 2023 memoir In My Stride, published by Headline, sets out what endurance, preparation and public scrutiny have taught her about resilience, confidence, and the value of time spent outside. She speaks to audiences about the mental work behind physical challenges, the realities of being a working mother in broadcasting, and the mental health benefits of the natural world, a subject she supports through her work with Mind.

She reached a Strictly Come Dancing final in 2022 with Gorka Marquez, which brought her to a wider corporate audience and confirmed the profile clients buy when they book her for a room of several hundred people.

Key speaking topics

• Resilience and mental strength
• Performance under pressure
• Working motherhood and life-balance
• Nature, wellbeing and mental health
• Broadcasting and media craft
• Adventure and endurance
• Awards hosting and conference moderation

Ideal for

• Internal conferences, leadership offsites and awards evenings seeking a credible host plus a keynote in one booking.
• HR, wellbeing and employee engagement programmes focused on resilience, mental health and working parents.
• Customer and partner events looking for a recognisable broadcaster with a story that travels beyond a single industry.

Audience outcomes

• A direct account of what preparation, fear and repeated setbacks look like at the edges of physical endurance.
• Practical reflections on resilience and recovery that avoid platitudes, drawn from first-hand experience.
• A clearer sense of how time outdoors and small daily habits support mental health, grounded in her work with Mind.
• Confident chairing or hosting that keeps a programme moving and lifts audience energy across a long day.