Melanie Sykes has revealed she hasn’t had sex in a year after splitting with her toyboy ex.
The 52-year-old was in a relationship with Italian hunk Riccardo Simionato, 25, who she met on holiday in Venice in 2020.
But the pair are said to have called it quits last year due to the long distance between them as Ricky is based in Italy and Mel is in the UK.
Although Melanie – who has had a string of younger partners - admits to having a high libido, the TV presenter said she had recently embarked on a period of celibacy.
She shared this was an attempt to avoid making the same mistakes, as she has used sex as a ‘Band Aid’ to patch up her relationship issues in the past.
Speaking to The Shift with Sam Baker podcast, that aims to tell the truth about being a woman post-40, Melanie said: “I’ve always had a high libido.
“Because I wanted to have sex with someone, I would. But it wasn’t necessarily good for me, or they weren’t particularly nice people.
“If you’re driven by your libido – which men are notorious for and women not so much - which I think is bulls**t because I think loads of women just want to get f***** sometimes and there’s nothing wrong with it.
“But I also realised that I needed a connection. It’s like putting a Band Aid on something. If you can resolve an argument with a really great session of sex it doesn’t mean the problem has gone.”
Explaining why she decided to forgo sex for a while, Melanie said: “I thought if I withdraw the sex, then the problems I can just avoid. And so I’ve just avoided.
“After a year I was so much more understanding of myself and had more respect for myself.
“I won’t lie with anyone that isn’t my equal ever again. It’s as simple as that. I don’t like casual sex. I’ve tried it. I don’t like it.”
Melanie claimed she had been “written off as some predator for young men” after several age gap relationships.
She married Jack Cockings in 2013, who was 16 years younger than her – but the pair split after less than a year.
The former model also dated German golf pro Martin Kaymer, who is 14 years her junior.
Although she has dated a few younger men, Melanie says she isn’t drawn to them because of their age, it’s their energy.
She told the podcast: “I don’t have an age. I’m just spirited. And I meet spirited people that I want to whirl around with for a while, while it feels good. And when it doesn’t, I’ll whirl around with somebody else.
“It got to a point where I had a few boyfriends on the bounce that were 27. So what? I like the energy of a certain age.
“It’s very rare to meet a man my age with the energy I’ve got. And I don’t mean for marathon sex sessions, I mean like life.”
Despite her love of a younger man, Melanie’s first husband, actor Daniel Caltagirone, isn’t an age gap relationship as he turns 51 this summer.
The former couple share two sons together, Roman, 21, and 18-year-old Valentino.
Melanie also dated Matt Goss in the early Nineties, who is two years older than her, but said she was physically sick when she discovered he had cheated on her.
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