Former Loose Women star Andrea McLean appeared on Vogue Williams' podcast with Boots, Taboo Talk, and spoke openly about her menopause experience.
READ: How to fix your sex and relationship issues during menopause
The presenter, who is 53, was plunged into menopause at 46 following a hysterectomy after suffering with endometriosis for her whole life. Andrea shared that she had high hopes that she'd lose weight following the serious operation.
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"I thought I'd lose at least a stone and have a flatter tummy, but it made no difference," she joked, before going on to explain that her sex drive dropped during menopause.
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Talking about experiencing vaginal dryness as a result of a drop in oestrogen, which made sex painful, Andrea said: "If something hurts, why on earth would you want to keep doing it?"
Explaining how she broached the subject with her partner, she said: "It's not that I don't fancy you, it's that it really hurts."
© Photo: RexAndrea found sex painful during menopause
Andrea also spoke openly about how menopause impacted her at work, sharing that hot flushes left her worried to be on live TV.
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"You'd be in the middle of [the show] and you could just feel the heat build and build and build. The sweat would be all around my hairline, I couldn't raise my arms, it was just terrible," she said.
© Photo: RexAndrea struggled with hot flushes
The 53-year-old went on to share that she picked up a top tip from the wardrobe team.
"Top tip: pantyliners under the armpits – gamechanger, I used to do that every day," she said, sharing that the wardrobe team said that they used the trick on male presenters all the time to stop them from sweating.
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