A glamorous new Housewife joins the cast as The Real Housewives of Cheshire returns to our screens tomorrow night (Monday August 22). Mum-of-one Katie Alex is an aesthetics expert who specialises in vaginal rejuvenation, helping women to get their sex lives back through non-surgical treatment.
Katie, 32, is one of a small number of Ultra Femme 360 practitioners in the UK, a device used to restore vaginal tightness and treat incontinence by transmitting radio frequencies, enhancing collagen production and improving blood flow. She opened Katie Alex Aesthetics in Altrincham four years ago following the birth of her daughter Evie, five.
Katie, who will already be a familiar to many as the 'Cheshire Fairy Godmother', told us: "I was a trained nurse and worked as a health visitor before having my litle girl. During my time as a health visitor not only did we assess the health of the baby we also assessed postnatal mental health and physical health.
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"A common theme was 'baby's great but things aren't the same down there' and 'I can't shift my baby weight because I can't go to the gym because I'm wetting myself.' So it's something I was quite familiar with from my time as a health visitor.
"Then I had my little girl and trained in aesthetics. I'll be honest with you I didn't like injecting faces. I'm not great with needles and I did a little bit of research and spoke to people in America.
"I was passionate about women's health and I wanted to use my experience and knowledge of postnatal health in what I was doing aesthetically. I found out about this new treatment launched in America and I knew it was coming to Europe and took it from there and decided that's what I was going to focus on."
Katie is proud to have transformed lives with her libido-boosting treatment, which remodels the vagina internally and externally. She said: "I really, really love my job. It changes women's lives and that is the bottom line of it.
"I have ladies come to me and they'll tell me things like 'I can't wear anything but black leggings', 'I don't want to sit next to people in the staff room', 'I can't have intercourse', 'I won't let my partner near me', all sorts of problems."
She added: "There is a taboo about women talking about their intimate health when we're all quite happy to say 'I've had a bit of botox, I've had my boobs done or I've had a bit of filler in my cheeks' as women we've all got a vagina.
"Most of us have children and things aren't the same once you've had a child or if you're perimenopausal. So I think it's super important to break that taboo and get woman talking about their vaginas because it's normal.
"Over 70-per-cent of women suffer from stress-related incontinence at some point in their lives. But nobody sits there and talks about it and supports one another and spreads the word that actually there is a treatment out there. Women's health is massive at the minute and so it should be. We have a lot to contend with. It's not easy being a woman."
Katie is excited for her clients to see her on the ITVBe reality show, which follows a group of feisty and fabulous ladies living in Cheshire. "I've already had clients and patients contact me saying 'we've heard you're on Cheshire Housewives.' I think I'll have a few patients and clients watching," she said.
Katie, who already knew fellow cast members Hanna Kinsella and her husband Martin and Lauren Simon, was in talks for 18 months about joining the show and felt that this year was right time for her. "I'm excited. It's an adventure isn't it? It's very alien to me but, you know, it's an experience.
"I was approached by the producers and it went from there. We were talking for 18 months to be fair and the time came and I thought 'you know, let's do it. let's give it a go.'
"I was already a fan of the show. I don't often get chance to watch television but in the early days, watching the first couple of series I was absolutely hooked. I had a baby, I started a business so downtime and TV time is quite limited in my world at the minute. Once I start watching I can't stop."
Asked how she's taken to being in front of the cameras she said: "It's quite unnatural having cameras in your house watching you have a meal but very quickly you develop these really good relationships with the crew and they just become part of the family. It's quite nice. I guess you do forget the cameras are there."
Katie will be joined on the show by her husband, Mason. "You may see Mason on camera," said Katie. "I think he's enjoyed it. The thing is with my husband he's up for anything. He's very laid back."
And she added: "I try to be as true to myself as possible. There's no acting. What people are going to see it is me. I hope that I've done everybody proud and they enjoy seeing my home life as well."
The Real Housewives of Cheshire, which launched in 2015, is known for its explosive rows and dramatic dinner parties, and Katie admits she found that aspect of the show difficult. "I'm not argumentative," she said. "I'm not confrontational and I'm not used to arguing with friends. It doesn't come natural at all.
"However I knew it would happen. I think I was prepared. I'm no wallflower. I don't often rise to the bait but if I'm provoked I defend myself. I'm not scared of that at all. I don't like having to do that but I will."
The Real Housewives of Cheshire returns to ITVBe and ITV Hub on Monday August 22 at 9pm
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