Loose Women panellist Penny Lancaster has confessed that she feared she would “lose” her sex appeal after going through the menopause.
The 50-year-old, who is married to Rod Stewart, 76, worried that the menopause would be the “end of the road” for her.
She became convinced that she would be forced to wave goodbye to the “old Penny” and would become less “lenient or forgiving”.
Opening up on her personal experience to Hello! magazine, she said: “The menopause freaked me out at first. I thought, ‘This is the end of the road. I’m not going to have any more sex appeal, I’m not going to be as lenient or forgiving. I’ve got to say goodbye to the old Penny and say hello to the new one.
(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
“But as you get older you embrace each stage of your life with more maturity, and give yourself a bit of a break.”
She got candid about the menopause alongside other celebrities including colleague Nadia Sawalha, Olympian Michelle Griffith Robinson, actress Julie Graham and make-up artist Ruby Hammer.
The five women spoke about their experiences as part of Hello! magazine’s campaign for the Menopause Work Pledge, in partnership with health charity Wellbeing of Women, which encourages companies to support their staff going through the menopause.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Fellow Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha, 56, admitted she knew “absolutely nothing” about the menopause and was convinced she had early-onset Alzheimer’s when she started experiencing symptoms of memory loss and brain fog, as well as heavy bleeding and night sweats.
“Over time the symptoms became part of me. My anxiety had become who I was”, she went on.
(Image: ITV)
Penny recently opened up about battling menopause anxiety saying: “When I joined Loose Women, I’d sit back and listen to you more mature ladies at the time – but now I’ve caught up with you – thinking, ‘Really, is it that bad?’
“And never quite understanding it. I think that’s half the problem. It’s not until it hits you literally from every angle that you think, ‘This is what you’re all talking about.’”
“Because we’re so good at hiding and putting a mask on and a band aid on the problems, just getting on with life, making sure everyone else is ok – the house is running, the kids are off to school and the husbands – all these different roles that we play and working in between and we forget about ourselves,” she continued.
She added: “You feel guilty for being upset. You go for a coffee with a friend and they say, ‘How are you?’ And then you burst into tears and you don’t know why you’re crying.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
