Jo Whiley, 58, admits her struggles with menopause made her go into ‘overdrive’ and she’s using this time in her life to feel ‘liberated and re-energised’ instead of slowing down
Jo Whiley revealed her battle with menopause made her go into ‘overdrive’ and she is using this time in her life to feel ‘liberated’ instead of slowing down.
The BBC star also hopes to change the perspective that women should start slowing down in their late 50’s.
In an interview with Good Housekeeping Magazine, Jo recalled she felt alarmed and scared with how menopause was affecting her.
She said: ‘The first thing I noticed was losing this clarity of thought in my head. For someone [whose job] is trying to speak to people, to communicate, that was quite was scary.
‘It was quite alarming. To suddenly not be able to find a word, for it just to disappear out of my grasp, was very, very unsettling.’
Strong: Jo Whiley has revealed her battle with menopause made her go into ‘overdrive’ and is using this time in her life to feel ‘liberated’ instead of slowing down
Empowering: The BBC star added that she hopes to change the perspective that women should start slowing down in their late 50’s
‘All my emotions were very raw and very close to the surface and I was extraordinarily prone to crying. I mean, I’m a professional crier at the best of times, but it went into overdrive.’
Jo, who presents the evening slot on BBC Radio 2, is also trying to rewrite her midlife, declaring: ‘The perception has been that this is the time of your life where you slow down, you don’t do so much, and that is something that I’m not interested in at all.’
She continued: ‘This is a time when you can feel liberated, you can feel re-energised. There is a lot of fun still to be had, and I’m living proof of that.’
The presenter, who revealed she has also gone through a period of her life where she questioned herself, admitted she just had to get up and get through it.
She said: ‘You grow up striving to find out who you are, all your life, and then you get to a point where I think you feel quite comfortable, and then all of a sudden, it’s like the floor has been taken away from under you.
I think I got to a point where I just thought I had to get a grip and I had to sort this out for myself. It was very much me doing my research, looking into my hormones… and also for my state of mind.’
‘I had to do a lot of thinking about who I was, what I wanted for the future and what changes I needed to make.’
Jo is mum to India, 30, Jude, 24, Cassius, 21, and Coco, 14 who she shares with her husband Steve Morton.
Struggled: In an interview with Good Housekeeping Magazine , Jo recalled she felt alarmed and scared with how menopause was affecting her
Parenthood: The Radio 2 DJ revealed she completed a triathlon with her daughter India and said it was the ‘best thing she ever done’ (pictured with India)
Elsewhere in Jo’s interview she spoke about her passion for outdoor activities.
The star has completed a triathlon and recalled it was one of the ‘best thing’s she had ever done’.
She said: ‘One of the best things I’ve done over the past ten years is a triathlon. Initially I was like, “there’s no way, I can’t run to save my life” but I got persuaded to do it with my daughter, India.
‘I just loved the whole process, just crossing the finishing line, holding her hand, both of us crying our eyes out. It was just the best feeling in the world.’
‘I think cold water is a really important thing if you’re going through the menopause. I might not have had hot flushes, but I certainly had hot head sometimes.
‘Water is the one thing that I could not live without. For me, swimming is the ultimate.
‘If my head is not in a good state, all I need to do is get to a body of water, get to a river, get to a lake, and submerge myself under the water. As soon as I break the surface and come out, my head is clear.’
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