Steps legend Claire Richards has spoken frankly about her concerns throughout menopause.
The 45-year-old pop diva has said that she began experiencing heart palpitations last year while filming for ITV’s The Masked Singer as Knitting.
Claire, on the other hand, was hesitant to seek therapy until her symptoms worsened to the point that she was afraid to leave her Surrey home.
In a new interview, the Tragedy hitmaker explained: ‘This last year has been a weird one. I started getting perimenopause symptoms and I was like, “Hold on a second, I don’t like this”.
‘When I was doing The Masked Singer, the anxiety was horrendous. I was having the worst palpitations, pounding through my neck. I didn’t feel I could give it my best at all.’
She told The Mirror that it took her ‘a long time’ to address what was happening, as it felt like a ‘milestone’ in her life.
‘You kind of feel like you’re shrivelling up from the inside out,’ the mum-of-two admitted.
‘I’m not an angry person at all, but you can feel it rising. My husband knows I’m going through something and he’s been really patient.’
Claire praised Davina McCall as well as her husband Reece, whom she married in 2008.
The former Big Brother presenter, 55, has been quite public about her own menopausal struggles and has created films to promote awareness.
Claire has already spoken candidly about her mental health.
The singer has struggled with eating problems and weight changes in the past, but she still cares about what others think of her.
‘I think so,’ she said late last year when asked if she was happy than ever. My perspective shifted after I turned 40. I am no longer 20 years old. I loathed the way I looked when I was 20, and I starved myself to appear that way.
‘I still worry about what I look like and what people think of me, but it’s more fleeting than it was back then.’
She added to Bella: ‘It doesn’t consume me anymore because if people don’t like me by now, they’re never going to.’
What is menopause?
The menopause is when a woman stops having periods. It’s a natural part of ageing that usually happens between 45 and 55 years old.
Symptoms of the menopause include hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness.
The main treatment for menopausal symptoms is hormone replacement therapy. Not all women need treatment.
And as she uses HRT oestrogen spray to combat her own symptoms, such as hot flushes, Claire is starting to ‘feel more like myself’.