If you’ve ever been to a school reunion, you’ll know that people can live widely different lives from what you expected.

The quiet girl in maths becomes a punk rock singer and the bigger lad from sociology is now modelling for Calvin Klein. It’s confusing and hard to understand exactly how that happened.

That’s how we felt after reading Helen Chamberlain’s Wikipedia page. 

Who is Helen Chamberlain? 

It’s a valid question. She’s not exactly a household name, but you’ll know her if you see her.

Or you may remember that she was the original presenter of arguably the most iconic football show to date… Soccer AM.

Yes, that’s right, the show that ran for nearly 30 years but was cancelled in May 2023. It had been a staple for football fans and part of their Saturday morning ritual, but viewing figures plummeted once the Helen Chamberlain had left.

While her absence wasn’t the only reason that the show ended, there’s no denying that the new presenters - John Fendley and Jimmy Bullard - failed to fill her shoes. 

Whilst Chamberlain was at the helm, Soccer AM was reaching around 300,000 viewers per week and was the most-watched sports programme in Britain after the live football.

So, in short, it was a big success.

But, after doing more research on Chamberlain, we realised that this wasn’t her first and only success story. She has an uncanny ability to achieve success in virtually every walk of life - and it’s both shocking and funny.

Success is second-nature 

Darts

Chamberlain beat professional darts player Eric Bristow in a game of darts-cricket - where you go around the board trying to get trebles. 

This isn’t just any darts player. Bristow - nicknamed “The Crafty Cockney” - was a five-time World Champion, a five-time World Masters Champion, and a four-time World Cup singles champion. 

That’s like successfully beating David Beckham at a cross-bar challenge in his prime. 

“On that day I just hit everything. Eric said ‘well done’ at the end, but I could tell he was seething,” recalls Chamberlain. 

She also added, “You don’t fluke a triple 20 x 2”, which we absolutely love.

Ok ok… every dog has its day, and she must’ve used all her lucky tokens to beat the darts World Champion, right? 

Think again… 

Poker

During her prime years as a presenter, Chamberlain found time to compete in the 2005 Poker Million tournament, Europe’s richest televised poker tournament. 

Chamberlain - or ‘Hells Bells’ as she was more commonly known - finished second place which meant she took home winnings of $400,000. 

But, she didn’t stop there. After buying her boyfriend a Range Rover, she turned her attention to the next sport she wanted to conquer: horse racing.

Horses

Ex-champion jockey Richard Dunwoody invited Chamberlain to a Charity Race, which the gutsy blonde duly accepted. It was then that she was introduced to trainer Simon Dew, and she subsequently spent the majority of the winter months on the Epsom Downs learning to ride.

With the remaining cash from her poker winnings, on Dew’s advice, she bought a racehorse from Germany - Birkspiel - who was already proven in Group races. 

For his first run, in April 2006, Birkspiel won a $50,000 Group 3 race in Baden-Baden, Germany. Not a big fan of travelling, Hells Bells chose to watch the race online with the Soccer AM crew.

Racing Michael Owen

While she may not have been on top of Birkspiel across the finish line, she did once win a race herself that shocked everyone - even herself.

When Ballon d’Or winner and ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen offered to race Chamberlain, she was confused at first. The England striker was known for his blistering pace so the odds were stacked against her.

But, never one to back down from a challenge, Chamberlain accepted.

Though she was dressed in a skirt and a pair of boots, Owen simply couldn’t catch her even in his ”special running trainers” that he wore for the race. 

Owen, the self-proclaimed best footballer in the world by age seven, had been beaten by Helen Chamberlain in a race. At that moment, he decided to call it a day and hang up his boots. 

We’re not quite sure what Hells Bells is up to these days, but we’re certain she’s conquering another sport with as much ease as she did darts, poker, horse racing and sprinting.