Helen Flanagan’s controversial moments – gun snap, mum-shamed and Aintree outcry

Helen Flanagan made a name for herself more than two decades ago when she kickstarted her career on Coronation Street.

The actress, 32, made her debut as Rosie Webster back in 2000 and played the character until 2012 before reprising the role for one year in 2017.

The blonde beauty returned to screens last month when she became one of the famous faces starring on I’m A Celebrity… South Africa.

While deep in the spotlight, the former soap star found herself at the centre of controversial moments that many won’t forget.

READ MORE: I’m A Celeb fans fume over bikini babe Helen Flanagan’s ‘unfair’ treatment on ITV show

As the mum-of-three continues thriving on the ITV reality show, Daily Star has looked back at some of the moments that got fans talking.

Gun to head in lingerie

In 2012, when the Corrie star was just 22, she made headlines after sharing a snap of herself posing in lingerie with a gun pointed to her head.

While the photo was part of a shoot taken in October that year, Helen shared the snaps on her Twitter page in December – the same day as the funerals of those who died in the Sandy Hook massacre.

Helen removed the post, which had the caption “Head F***” shortly after, but The Sun used the photo on their front page accompanied by the headline: “Brainless.”

At the time, she tweeted: “I am absolutely disgusted in this. Completely cruel. I will absolutely NOT stand for this kind of bullying (sic).

“Anyone who knows me knows I have the biggest heart…. I feel really chocked up that’s so cruel.

“Honestly I’ve got tears streaming down my face how can you do that to someone over something so tragic #feelsick can’t believe I woke up to that.”

The star later added: “I’ve just been crying to my bf before he left for work…. Now I am just absolutely livid. I am really worried about my mum.”

The shooting, which took place on December 14 in Newtown, Connecticut, left six adults and 20 children aged between six and seven dead.

Aintree outcry

Helen is no stranger to public backlash and sparked outrage in April when she attended Aintree Racecourse for Ladies Day.

Sporting a red Karen Millen dress, Helen looked nothing short of sensational as she spent the day at the races with friends.

After sharing a snap of her outfit on Instagram, many fans admired her “beautiful” and “stunning” looks, but others were quick to share their “disappointment” over her actions.

One person wrote: “I absolutely adore you, but I’m really disappointed in this supporting horse racing.”

Someone else shared: “You Bet, They Die. Disappointed you support cruel horse racing, you should be setting an example by not supporting animal abuse.”

Another seething person penned: “Shame on you for supporting a cruel sport. 3 beautiful horses died.”

Others considered boycotting the soap star due to her appearing at the event.

“I’ve been supporting you for so long but nah, this sport is the epitome of cruelty for horses. As an ex animal welfare lawyer it actually disgusts me. So I’m out, all the best,” fumed a second person.

Another agreed, writing: “I’m unfollowing too for the same reason. You bet, they die….”

Slammed ‘boring’ Wales

By 2012, Helen had been living in Swansea, Wales, for nearly one year since moving there to be with her then-boyfriend Scott Sinclair who was playing football for Swansea City.

But she caused a social media storm once again after she suggested her new hometown was a “boring” place to live.

She wrote on Twitter: “Started to get bored now, been in Wales too long, Lol. Must take action.”

Her choice of words didn’t go down well with her followers as many took to the comments to slam the actress.

“Go back to Manchester then and take your money-grabbing boyfriend with you,” fumed one person.

Another outraged user penned: “Go back to Manchester then I’m sure you can get Sinclair a job on Corrie because he ain’t going to do much at Man City.”

She later attempted to defend herself by tweeting: “When Scott is on away games I’m on my own in Wales… My tweet wasn’t meant to offend or be insensitive to Swansea fans. Sorry guys. Some people need to chill out. I’ve always loved Swansea.”

But it only sparked more controversy amongst fans who accused her of “whingeing” on her social media.

“F**k sake get a job, at least that way you wont tweet utter drivel,” wrote one person.

While a second agreed: “Stop wingeing so much, you spoilt b***h! Life could be billion times worse, think before you tweet! People are starving etc” (sic).

Cat controversy

By this point in 2013, Helen had unfortunately become known for her online faux-pas.

Causing social media uproar once again, the soap star posted a photo of a cat who had its ears and nose removed after developing skin cancer, to show how she feels when her boyfriend goes out without her.

After being called out by furious animal lovers, a spokesperson for Helen came out and revealed she was unaware the cat had cancer.

They said: Helen didn’t realise the cat was disadvantaged and thought it looked really cute.”

The next day, Helen attempted damage control by heading to The Animal Sanctuary in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Mum-shamed

Mum-shaming was all too familiar to Helen by 2022 and she faced the wrath of fans once again after sharing a video on her Instagram in which showed her daughters playing in their bedroom.

Sharing a clip in view of her one million Instagram followers, the video featured Matilda, seven, and four-year-old Delilah’s and shared an insight into their princess themed room.

While the post garnered plenty of attention from fans who thought it was sweet, others trolled the doting mum who questioned why the youngsters shared a bedroom.

“I would have thought with her money her kids would have bedroom each lol and so many toys wow (sic),” someone wrote.

But while some shared their dislike for the post, others leaped to the defence of Helen and insisted their was nothing wrong with that.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk