Naked Attraction host Anna Richardson has said she's experiencing "amazing sex" in a candid chat about menopause. The presenter praised fellow celebrity Davina McCall for keeping the "conversation going" so beautifully and said she was hoping to break the "final taboo" by explaining that "women really want to know about sex during menopause".
In an exclusive chat with OK! Online the 52-year-old said: "There’s something wonderful about this stage in life. When you come through menopause it’s like you’re a wise woman of the village. It opens the door into the second half of your life – a life of freedom, self-knowledge, purpose, and a life that’s no longer fearful about trying not to get pregnant and worrying about your fertility."
Anna is keen to share her own experiences in the hope of getting other women talking and says she wants to impart what knowledge she has to try and help younger people. "It’s almost a club,” she told the publication. "I’ve not had children but when women have babies they suddenly join the mother club. It’s the same with menopause. When you hit that stage you go: ‘Did anyone tell you about this?’ and it’s too late until you’re in it. There is a degree of shame and embarrassment."
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Anna said for her it was a "slow, confusing creep over years" as she tried out different HRT methods and hormones. She said: "Now I haven’t had a period for two years and I feel fairly steady but it’s still not as it was when I was having my periods. For some women menopause is difficult."
Hoping to break the "final menopause taboo" Anna recently partnered with Replens, a healthcare brand catering to women with vaginal dryness. She said: "I’ve experienced some vaginal dryness and that has made sex tricky at times. It’s something I talk about with my girlfriends. We’re all like: ‘God, are you a bit dry?’ and ‘Have you got cystitis?’"
She added: "Let's get this conversation going. It’s being beautifully done by Davina McCall and various other women so it’s good that the conversation is out there. But no one is talking about this final taboo. It’s a bit of an unspoken thing but women really want to know about sex during menopause."
Anna, who was in a long-term relationship with presenter Sue Perkins until 2021 and is now in a relationship with a new man, said sex in her 50s has been a revelation. She said: "There’s something wonderful about meeting somebody new that makes you realise: ‘Oh, I’m not dead from the waist down! Actually I can experience amazing sex like I had in my 20s.' It is possible to recapture it but it takes work." You can read the full interview with OK! Online here. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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