HELEN Skelton never set out to have a career in front of the camera, she was just a chatterbox.

The former Blue Peter presenter was quite content working at Radio Cumbria where she became one of the youngest breakfast show presenters on the BBC network.

But the Stockton Heath resident realised she had a gift for TV work by chance when she covered for a colleague.

“I never set out to be a telly presenter. I just like talking to people," said Helen.

"I went to Newsround because I was encouraged to, and the only reason why I ended up on screen was because I covered someone’s maternity leave.

"I’m very naïve and I think that life is too short, you should do stuff that you enjoy, and I’ve been very lucky to chase things in my career that I actually enjoy."

In fact, Helen has had the best of both worlds because her TV work has combined her passion for outdoor activities, sports and fitness with her presenting.

“I was really lucky with Blue Peter that I was able to combine my loves," she added.

"I love training for stuff, so doing stunts like the High Wire challenge (she walked a 150m tightrope between the chimneys of

Battersea Power Station for Comic Relief in 2011) was perfect."

Even when Helen is off duty, you would not know it. She and her Warrington Wolves husband Richie Myler constantly challenge each other.

She said: “We are probably the only couple who went to the gym together on Christmas Day, on our honeymoon!

"But to be honest, when we train together it is a disaster because he really knows how to push my buttons and we are stupidly competitive.

"I grew up in a sports-mad family. My brother is a footballer, my mum and dad have always played loads of sport.

"My dad used to get us up in the middle of the night to watch the Ryder Cup, even when I was seven and had no idea what the Ryder Cup even meant.

"My mum has been a big role model for me. I’ll never forget mucking around with her on a skateboard, and that implanted in my mind so that I think of doing stuff like that, as a woman, as totally normal.”

That is probably what sparked her interest in women's sport, which she reports on.

Helen added: "Maybe there is an appetite for female role models who are doing something different and out there achieving something, as opposed to just looking good.

"I know loads of women who play for the England women’s team. Fara Williams for example, an amazing woman; she was

playing for her country, the top flight of women’s football, yet she was homeless at one point.

"We are at a really interesting point for sport, because there will be loads of seven, eight, nine-year-olds who have sportswomen as role models after the Olympics. That generation is where we’ll see the real dividends.”

One of Helen's latest projects has been Countryfile's Celebration of the Seasons.

The documentary spans the length and breadth of the UK through the changing seasons.

But she said the cameramen are the real stars of the show.

Helen said: "It’s amazing how people underestimate the cameramen on something like Countryfile.

"The camera team on the show are so brilliant, and I think that really shows in Celebration of the Seasons.

"It’s a celebration of our country, and our countryside, and it would have been wrong of the production team to scrimp and save on the pictures.

"So luckily, Countryfile is one of the few shows these days that really invests in their filmmakers.”

Helen also took the Countryfile team back to her native Cumbria where she grew up on a dairy farm.

She added: "I’ve been lucky with my job to go all over the world. Alaska, New Zealand, Australia and Africa, yet I always compare those places to the Lake District and to Cumbria, because Cumbria has a bit of everything.

"Huge mountains, big lakes, stunning coastline - I feel really proud of where I’m from.

"I spent years living in London trying to convince friends to come back up to Cumbria with me, and they always thought it was like going to the end of the earth."

Her city-dwelling friends were never disappointed when they were eventually dragged back to her home turf though.

She said: “We’d go to the lakes, go kayaking, go for a swim, and have a barbecue by the lake.

"There are great pubs, great food, great views, great people. Loads of stuff happens in Cumbria that people aren’t aware of. Kendal Calling, for instance.

"I’ve loved Kendal Calling for years, but I had London friends telling me ‘There’s this really cool new festival called Kendal Calling…’ and I’ve been going to it since it was like, five men and a dog!”