Penny Lancaster has never shied away from how menopause affected her life, and in a candid new interview she detailed some of its horrific effects and how husband Rod Stewart helped her.
Speaking to the Times, the Loose Women star explained: "I picked up the plates and I threw them across the kitchen. Which is an outrageous thing to think of — who the hell would throw the dinner? I threw these plates of food across the kitchen as hard as I could, to make as much noise as I could.
"As if the noise… as if someone would wake up, someone would notice me, someone would have the answer."
The 53-year-old continued, saying at this moment her husband ordered their two sons, Alastair and Aiden, to "leave mummy" and go into another room as he comforted her, urging her to seek medical attention.
© Dave BenettHowever, at her GP, Penny was misdiagnosed with depression and prescribed anti-depressants, which gave her a general apathy towards life. The mum-of-two also considered whether she was suffering with COVID-19, with her blood feeling like it was boiling before she suddenly felt freezing cold.
It ended up being her Loose Women co-stars who alerted the star to the fact she might be going through the menopause with their "combined power" after reuniting in the studio pointing Penny in the right direction.
© InstagramRod has been incredibly supportive to Penny and during an appearance on Loose Women in 2021, the rock and roll star said: "I googled and googled and googled. It said, 'Shut up and understand.' I mean, it's a fragile situation she was in."
"It was frightening because she really wasn't the person I married. But we talked about it which I think is the most important thing a couple can do. And she explained it to me through the tears because Penny likes a cry.
© Joe Maher"We talked it through and I think that's what couples have to do. Men have got to get on with it, understand and come out the other end."
In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Penny shared: "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. I felt it was all shutting down around me.
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"I spoke to a doctor who put me on anti-depressants, which levelled things out, but although symptoms of the menopause can be mistaken for depression, this wasn't the right treatment for the condition – it was just a form of plaster that covered it up."
