A PICTURE can tell a thousand words, and barely a day goes by without Helen Flanagan posting a sultry selfie or gorgeous family snap on social media – so it seems there’s a lot the star has to tell her fans.
The ITV Coronation Street actress and Celebs Go Dating star, 34, who recently separated from the father of her three children, Scott Sinclair, 35, has grown up in the spotlight.
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And it’s clear that the blonde-haired beauty, who just days ago went Instagram official with her new boyfriend Robbie Talbot, 44, has undergone an impressive transformation from child soap star to glamour puss model and proud parent.
But the honest mother, who has confessed to having a £5k boob job and has been previously labelled as ‘trashy’ by mum-shamers commenting on her lingerie posts, has since evolved into a self-proclaimed hot ‘MILF’.
Not only have her looks dramatically changed, but as her life has evolved over the years, so have Helen’s poses – revealing plenty of potentially cryptic messages fans may have missed.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, body language expert Judi James says that there’s more to Helen’s selfies than meets the eye – and whilst some of her snaps signal her as ‘fun’ and ‘confident’, others suggest her ‘rebellious’ and ‘playful’ side.
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Judi told Fabulous: “Helen’s career as an actress gives her a larger repertoire of signature looks and poses than most celebrities as she pouts, preens and positions herself in at least seven key, contrasting looks, from the retro ‘sultry siren’ to her more recent ‘hot MILF’.
“Each pose comes with a change of acted persona, with her facial expressions and eye engagement altering to balance her body and hand positions, which adds to her thirst-trap potential as she offers a kind of a ‘seven for the price of one’ selection of Helen’s to her fans.
“This range of Zoolander-style ‘strike a signature pose’ body language might be doing more than just keeping the fans and punters happy, though.
“By throwing each look, Helen could be getting into the role as she would when she’s acting, meaning she can adopt a mask and a persona to hide behind in terms of any insecurities or vulnerability.
“Actors get their confidence-boost when they’re less personally invested, which makes it easier to drop any inhibitions and get totally stuck into each character and each ‘role’.”
SULTRY STARE
Judi recognised that Helen often dons a ‘sultry stare’, whereby her eyes do the talking.
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The body language pro explained: “Helen’s ice-blue eyes are one of her signature beauty USPs and she tends to employ them for maximum impact with her ‘sultry stare’ technique.
“Her head tilt suggests a desire to be liked but it’s that pout and the direct, angled eye-gaze to the camera that is used to attract, direct and silently speak to the viewer.
“It’s Helen’s way to engage personally with her fans or recruit new ones with a sense of invitation to ‘join her’ in a virtual way.
“Once engaged, there’s that exaggerated cleavage to provide a sensual add-on.”
HANDS ON HIPS
As well as this, the Manchester-born beauty, who has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, can also be seen regularly posing with her hands on her hips.
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Judi recognised: “This pose involves a body language technique called ‘sexual framing’ as Helen uses her hand positioning to draw attention to and to ‘frame’ some of the more sexual areas of her body.
“As a splay gesture, the hands on the hips will normally signal power, confidence and even aggressive arousal but Helen’s version sends out a totally different vibe.
“Her arms are kept close to her torso to avoid any splaying and her hands are holding or clutching her hips or pelvis to direct attention to that part of her body.
What do we know about Helen Flanagan’s new boyfriend Robbie Talbot?
HELEN Flanagan has revealed that she is in a new relationship.
While appearing on Celebs Go Dating, she confessed that she was already taken – here’s everything we know about her boyfriend Robbie Talbot.
Helen has opened up about her relationship with former footballer Robbie Talbot.
He is a decade older than the actress.
Robbie was born in Liverpool on October 31, 1979 which is how he earned his nickname Halloween Hitman in football.
He has played for a series of non-league teams such as Burton Albion, Burscough and Morcambe.
He then became a coach at Ashton in 2010.
Robbie is retired from football.
He left his role as Assistant Manager at Ashton due to family and work commitments in 2011.
It’s unknown what he has done for work since leaving football.
Helen admitted that she was dating Robbie while appearing on Celebs Go Dating.
In a first for the show, it has been revealed that her relationship had to be written into the series due to requirements that those taking part have to be single.
The pair went public at her birthday party on August 10, 2024.
“Her back is arched and her facial expression is more passive as though she’s keen to avoid upstaging her more powerful, directional hand gesture.
“It’s as flirty a directional signal as when guys hang their hands from their jeans pockets to ‘point’ to or frame their groin area.”
CHEESY GRIN
She’s someone that loves posing, but the Ann Summers fan is also not afraid to show her teeth too.
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When she shows off her cheesy grin, Judi said: “This is Helen in full-glamour beauty queen mode with a wide, symmetric, teeth-baring smile to fit with the look.
“Her eyes are narrowed, making her mouth the key feature in this pose, and the professional-looking, beauty queen aspect of this grin suggests a sense of resilience and even rejection to anyone being critical of her glam poses.
“Teeth-baring smiles like this aren’t all about passive likeability. When animals display or bare their teeth, it can be a warning of their ability to attack, so Helen might also be showing off her strength and her ability to defend herself and her family if necessary here.”
GAZE AWAY
But with just a quick glance at Helen’s feed, fans will see a variety of snaps of the actress, who played Rosie Webster for 12 years in Corrie, gazing away from the camera.
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Judi suggested: “This technique suggests an element of distraction, as though the model has struck the perfect pose but just remembered she left the kettle on.
“By gazing away Helen disengages on a more personal level with the viewer and just allows her body to be admired from more of a distance.
It seems to be used as a message to the fans to point out that she is very happy striking these glam poses and very comfortable in who she is and what her career choices are
Judi James
“It’s just the body doing the flirting here, not the facial expression, although Helen’s sideways gaze allows her eyes and her features to become a little more animated.
“It creates a more meaningful eye expression and a flattering eye and face shape.”
FACE IT
Not only this, but Helen is also a fan of the ‘face it’ pose, whereby hand placement is key.
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Judi added: “Helen is as famous for her facial beauty as well as she is for her fabulous body and poses like this ‘Face it’ one allow her to use that ‘Framing’ technique with her hands to show she can pull a powerful pose without needing to add the cleavage.
“Her body is often scrunched here and often almost hidden by her arms but her hand to the chin forms a directional gesture to show off her features instead.
“It’s her most confident and more fun pose despite being one where she tends to hide her body behind barriers.”
DAY DREAMER
The self-proclaimed MILF, who was recently seen looking for the one on Celebs Go Dating, is also a celebrity that loves the ‘Day Dreamer’ pose.
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The body language pro highlighted: “When Helen is striking some of her sexiest poses she will often also close her eyes.
“This could be a cut-off ritual to shut herself away for a moment but she will also tend to add a smile, which gives a dreamier and more reflective, languorous look.
She seems to suggest she doesn’t take herself too seriously
Judi James
“It seems to be used as a message to the fans to point out that she is very happy striking these glam poses and very comfortable in who she is and what her career choices are.
“It suggests quiet, calm, fun, hinting at some more mature and experienced thought processes.”
POUTING ‘ELL
Finally, the TV star, who participated in the twelfth series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, in 2012, is also particular to a pout here and there.
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Judi concluded: “Helen loves to channel a more retro posing style that is full-on fifties glamour and which usually involves her hugest pouts.
“Pouting used to be a sign of blowing a kiss but with the current obsession with wide ‘butterfly’ lip shapes it can also mimic the sweeter and more vulnerable look of a baby breast-feeding.
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“Helen’s sometimes scrunching of the top lip as she pouts though makes her pout gesture look naughty, playful and even a bit rebellious.
“She seems to suggest she doesn’t take herself too seriously here and when she scrunches her eyes at the same time the focus is on fun rather than hard-core flirting.”
