Davina McCall reveals she thought she’d lose her job due to menopausal brain fog

Davina McCall has described her experience of menopause in an effort to help other women.

The former Big Brother presenter, who then became the 54-year-old Masked Dancer UK judge, revealed she had such bad brain fog that it was affecting her work and she thought she would lose her job.

Davina recalled once sitting on a TV with interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, 57, and forgot his name due to menopausal amnesia.

“I was with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and I couldn’t remember his name,” she said. The sun.

“I thought I should give up my job – and I love my job.”

She added that she thought she was “going crazy.”

“I was just at a stage where I thought I really knew how to do this job and then I thought ‘you’re going to take it away from me’.”

Davina said she wished she’d had the courage to talk to her production team about her amnesia due to menopause, but that she’s too “ashamed.”

Now she speaks about her experience with menopause to end the stigma and help others.

She added that she found the night sweats ‘debilitating’, but quickly found relief through hormone replacement therapy, or HRT.

She added to Lorraine on Thursday that she felt quite lonely during menopause, but she wanted to remind women that they are not alone.

‘It’s so lonely’ [going through menopause]I thought I was disappearing and my world was getting smaller and smaller. I felt very lonely and isolated,” she said.

‘Only when you come out of the gray do you think, I haven’t laughed in months… It can be a fantastic time in your life, of freedom. It’s just the next phase.’

Davina explored menopause in a documentary titled Sex, Mind and the Menopause – the sequel to her 2021 program Sex, Myths and the Menopause.

The show delved into more of the burning issues raised in its first documentary, including myths about menopause and the taboo surrounding HRT.

It also took a closer look at whether women are sidelined, fired or forced to go part-time when affected by menopausal symptoms at work.

Davina has vowed to fight ‘as long as she can’ for women to get hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and proper menopause care amid a major problem in the UK.

The supply crisis has led to severe shortages of some HRT products, which are used by around 1 million women in the UK, while a new study shows that women are forced to quit their jobs after reaching menopause.

Speak with the mirrorDavina, did not shy away from talking extensively about menopause in the past, explained, “I think this is going to be my life’s work now. It’s frustrating, but it feels like we’ve come a long way in the past year in terms of public awareness and willingness to do something about it.’

The publication reports that she then became emotional as she continued: “I’m doing this for as long as it takes, I feel it’s very important, I think this is the most important thing I will ever do.”

The mother of three shared her response to a new Channel 4 survey, which found that of 4,014 women surveyed, 14% reduced their working hours due to menopausal symptoms.

It also revealed that 52% of women lost their confidence at work due to menopause, while a whopping 84% felt there was no one in their workplace to turn to to help with their problem.

Davina talked about how menopause affected her before she got HRT and admitted it made her feel ‘invisible’ because she couldn’t talk to anyone about it, while she was ‘scared’ because she wasn’t sure what was going on with her. hand wash.

She added that once she got HRT, it felt like she was “reborn,” with the star noting that she “felt like I had myself back.”