diff --git a/packages/components/src/mobile/bottom-sheet/bottom-sheet-navigation/navigation-container.native.js b/packages/components/src/mobile/bottom-sheet/bottom-sheet-navigation/navigation-container.native.js
index ab5ea8f54f7c9a..1def0400a1c42f 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/mobile/bottom-sheet/bottom-sheet-navigation/navigation-container.native.js
+++ b/packages/components/src/mobile/bottom-sheet/bottom-sheet-navigation/navigation-container.native.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
 	Children,
 	useRef,
 	cloneElement,
+	Platform,
 } from '@wordpress/element';
 
 import { usePreferredColorSchemeStyle } from '@wordpress/compose';
@@ -93,7 +94,14 @@ function BottomSheetNavigationContainer( {
 					typeof height !== 'string' ) ||
 				typeof height === 'string'
 			) {
-				performLayoutAnimation( ANIMATION_DURATION );
+				// Animating the opacity for the initial modal results in the backdrop
+				// provided by react-native-modal to never transition from transparent
+				// to partially opaque black. The core issue was not idenfited, but it
+				// may relate to the experimental state of LayoutAnimation for Android.
+				// https://reactnative.dev/docs/layoutanimation
+				if ( ! Platform.isAndroid || currentHeight !== 1 ) {
+					performLayoutAnimation( ANIMATION_DURATION );
+				}
 				setCurrentHeight( height );
 
 				return;
diff --git a/packages/react-native-editor/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/react-native-editor/CHANGELOG.md
index d6868550b050d9..bccdce95b34504 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-editor/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/react-native-editor/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ For each user feature we should also add a importance categorization label  to i
 ## Unreleased
 -   [*] [Embed block] Fix inline preview cut-off when editing URL [#35321]
 -   [*] [Unsupported Block Editor] Fix text selection bug for Android [#34668]
+-   [*] Fixed missing modal backdrop for Android help section [#35557]
 -   [*] Fixed erroneous overflow within editor Help screens. [#35552]
 
 ## 1.63.0