Naked Attraction’s Anna Richardson on handling midlife relationships and how the menopause changes your love life
She first appeared on our screens over 20 years ago on The Big Breakfast. Since then, TV presenter, producer and writer Anna Richardson has fronted some of Channel 4’s biggest shows including Supersize vs Superskinny, The Sex Education Show, Secret Eaters and most recently Naked Attraction.
Here, the 53-year-old opens up about her experience with menopause, how she handled her famous split from Sue Perkins and why she won’t stop talking about sex!
You’ve carved out a niche for yourself in sex and relationships – how did that happen?
It’s weird, it wasn’t planned. As a presenter, I’ve always been unafraid to tackle taboo subjects. From the age of about 27, I started presenting a show called Love Bites for teenagers on ITV. I became the go-to girl to talk about relationships and sex, where perhaps other people felt uncomfortable.
We still have issues with teen pregnancy, pornography and young boys not knowing what is and isn’t consensual sex, so it needs to be talked about.
Menopause is something else you’re really passionate about…
It’s about educating women. Sex, love and relationships don’t end after you’ve had your family and when you stop having your periods. But a lot of women feel like they’re not able to talk about the changes in their bodies and changes in their relationships.
How has your body and relationship with sex changed over the years?
No one tells you how much your body – and how you feel towards it – changes. For years, your sex life is focused on either getting, or trying not to get pregnant. When you hit menopause it’s a whole new world. You’re like, ‘I’ve been fighting the last 30 years of really worrying about my contraception and now I can’t have kids any more.’ Even if you don’t want kids, it’s a brand new landscape that women have to navigate. And that’s without the physical effects, lowering oestrogen, your hormones affecting all of your body, being fatigued, and drying up so can sex become painful.
What would you say to menopausal women who are worried about their romantic relationships being impacted?
When you no longer have to worry about pregnancy or fertility, sex should simply be about pleasure. The problem is it can become more challenging because you’re no longer pumped full of all those amazing hormones that feed into your sex drive.
