Begin Again with Davina McCall - Begin Again Moments: Owning Your Menopause

Episode Date: October 4, 2026

October is Menopause Awareness Month, so for this week’s episode of Begin Again Moments, Penny Lancaster and Natalie Imbruglia join Davina McCall to explore the reality of perimenopause and menopause, and why no woman should ever feel ashamed of what she’s going through. Penny opens up about experiencing anxiety, rage, hot flushes and the unsettling feeling of no longer recognising herself. She shares how her menopause symptoms were initially mistaken for depression, the impact they had on her family life and how conversations with other women finally helped her understand what was happening. Natalie reflects on her own experience of perimenopause, from anxiety and changes in her emotions to the shame women can feel when they suddenly don’t feel like themselves. She explains why speaking openly about menopause became so important to her, helping to remove the stigma for the women coming next. Together, they explore HRT, menopause symptoms, female identity and the power of women supporting women through this life-changing transition – reminding us that menopause isn’t simply an ending, but the beginning of your best chapter yet. To hear the full conversations, watch the complete episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. ask you about when you found out you were perimenopausal because there'll be many listeners here at that stage of their life or they will know someone a bit like you were saying they'll either be a partner of or a work colleague of because it was really interesting your journey because it was misdiagnosed. Could you just tell us what happened? It was compounded by quite a few different factors. I mean we all know that when we go into the hormone journey, that's at our adolescence when we're teenagers. So my son was a teenager. It's classic, isn't it? I was coming out

the other side. Yeah. Losing my hormones. He was gaining them and I was losing them. We were on, we were two trains on a track heading towards each other. It was like, just blowing up. But then we'd be like crying and hugging and making up. And Rod will be like, what is going on with you two? Like, screaming and shouting and then you're all cuddling and making up. Like you said, oh, I mean, yeah, I loved doing all the apologies and hugs afterwards, but the fights were off. That's a lot, right? I remember, I mean, I had the same thing, the rage.

Yeah. To 60, really terrifying. But then to compound that as well, we were in lockdown. Oh, God, of course, yeah. So then you go, you can't go anywhere. He's a teenager, that's why we're fighting. We're in lockdown. that's why I'm going mad.

And then when lockdown first happened, there were no tests, were there? But one of the symptoms was high temperature. Sweating, right. I mean, I got my hyperhidrosis. I've always had that. Yeah. But this is next level, though.

This was this furnace. This was this furnace. It was like I was in a quadrant. And I kind of like look at it like in the old days when there were witches. And they would burn. them at the stake. And there was these crazy, crazy women that were absolute lunatics. But I think they were menopausal. I think they were menopausal. They were all locked up and killed and hung and got

no, they were just menopausal going absolutely crazy. But that heat would just burn all the way up and you would feel it rising like mercury. And you can't do anything about it. Nothing. And you just think, and it was hotter, hot and you're thinking, I'm going to combust. How much hotter can I possibly get? And then suddenly goes, oh, and then it would start down. And it would be like, my son, my, oh, he was, he's 14 now, but he was much, so, Aden. And he would open doors and windows, go get, Mommy, out, get it, quick, the breeze is coming. He's coming. And I'm like, you know, here go, Mommy, like this. They'd all come round and waft me down. Once I, once we realized that it was this symptom of women of a certain age, we still didn't really know what it was.

So that was my first symptoms. But I thought initially I was, I had COVID. But then when I got on top of the covers in the middle of the night, then I turned into an ice block and it was freezing cold. I'm like, well, that's not the symptom, hot and cold. That's sound like I've got the flu or. But anyway, there was much more important things happening because people are dying and then, you know, and all this. So you just part.

So it was just like, come on, just be strong, carry on kind of thing. And then it was one day we were in England. all hunkered down together and it was, you know, that convey about of like breakfast and lunch and dinner and da-da-da-da-d-d-da-d-d-da, you know, like it was that groundhold day. And the kids were doing homeschooling and, you know, it was like, that was another level. So I got the dinner ready. And I'm like, boys, boys, calling, calling, going, nothing. I'm thinking, it's getting cold now. I'm thinking, you know, just getting wound up. And I'm thinking, why am I getting wound up about dinner.

You know, like it's just not in my character. It's not you. Yeah. There's your dinner if it's cold, you know, and I was getting aggravated and the anxiety was building over the most silliest things. Finally they come into the kitchen and they're rowing and then suddenly I, a fuse blue. We can all relate to this penning. And I just threw them across the room because my screams and my.

and my cries, am I weakening, nothing was being seen. Nothing's working. Nothing was working. So the smashing of the plates, they all were just like, and right, boys, in the other room, quickly, quickly. And then I just slid down aside and in this heap in the corner of the kitchen, just going, crying. Because I think what happens, so many women say to me,

I don't recognize myself anymore. And these things, I think rage for me and for so many other women was the most frightening and disruptive because rage, firstly, isn't really accepted in women full stop. But when it happens and you're actually quite a pacifist, which I know you are, it's so overwhelmingly frightening. What am I? Yes, who am I? It's a loss of identity, isn't it? Yeah. So Rod, as Rod is, comforted me. Like, he didn't know what it was. So he couldn't help me or fix me. He's like, we've got to get to the bottom of this. You know, you can't carry on like this. We can't carry on like this. I mean, how many marriages break down. At this time, yeah. Because women would just push the men as way and you, you don't understand. Leave me alone and all that kind of thing. And it's like, I needed help. And I wanted help. So I went to a doctor. And he.

man that wouldn't have gone through it. Maybe he had not seen anyone around him, but if he had, I'm sure lots of women had similar complaints, didn't recognise it. And as we know, when you're training to be a doctor, it's not compulsory, wasn't compulsory, to learn about menopause. It was like a, oh, we'd like to. Yeah, we've got a little module over here you could do if you want. Yeah.

So I just had like it crying all the time and everything's overwhelming. let's put you on some antidepressants. And I was like, take anything. I didn't care. You're a doctor, you're a professional. You know what you're doing. Just whatever you think. Or let's just experiment.

Just help me. So I started taking them. I felt like it got worse. It numbed me. So I couldn't be happy. And at least I had some happiness when I was okay. But I didn't get really low and angry either. I was just like numb.

See, that's a frightening place to be, I think, for a perimenopausal women because you're taking the thing that's supposed to make you better. They end up increasing it a little bit because, oh, well, maybe we haven't got the dose right. It's not working properly. And then that still doesn't work. And then you think you're mad. I really am mad. So how did you find out? Loose women, ladies.

Yeah. Other ladies. Yeah. Having gone through it, having talked about it. Of women talking. Yeah. And they were like, Penny, it's not depression, it's menopause. But I'm not, I was like, I'm not old enough.

I'm too young. Don't be silly. Don't be silly. It's meant to be like, you know, walking cane. Like, I don't even remember my mum or, you know, never having heard of the word or I recognise the symptoms or I had a thing as well where I didn't want to admit that this was happening because I didn't, I felt like it was meaning that I had to let go of my sexiness and youth.

And it felt... Yeah, and it felt... Yes, who I was. Yeah, yeah. And actually I did have to. But, I mean, look at you. It's the birth of a new... Absolutely.

A new confidence and sexiness that is better than before. A more confident one. Absolutely. The way I see it is like a... the beginning of a life where you have a caterpillar and they go into the chrysalis and then the caterpillar falls away and the butterfly is revealed. Yes. So I feel that I've become the butterfly.

Yes. And I believe the chrysalis is what all women are born with. That's our protective layer. Yes. That's our barrier. That's our invisible shield. Yes. It's the men are the, it's the, um, it's the, um, it's the, um, it's the,

hormones, it's the progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, that cocoon, that's, that's our protective layer. So we can take care of everyone. We're kind of held protected in, in, behind our hormones. Nothing can touch us so that we can go and take care of everyone, whether it's the house, whether it's our partners, our children. And we can do all of that seamlessly. you know, rising above all the bumps in the road and we could just take care. Suddenly, that chrysalis, that barrier, those hormones start crumbling away. And to start with, you're on the edge of that cliff and you're just trying to clamber back and hold back and hold on to what was. But in fact, if you find the help that you need, you could take off and go, I'm here. It is amazing, isn't it? Yeah.

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While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more. at Bloomberg.com. You know, I'd quickly like to talk to you about perimenopause, actually, because you talked earlier about thinking, I can't do my job anymore. I felt exactly the same thing. I couldn't remember people's names on a live TV show to the point where my exact producer came up to me afterwards and said, are you okay?

And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. And then she left the room and I burst into tears. So confusing. Mine was seeing this expression in other people's face. Yeah. Like, you know, like when you're the anxiety, and you're like, and then they're like, and so they look a bit frightened.

Or the not to 60. Yeah. I was a fury. So they're like, and they're like, oh God. And you see it too, like a lot in the day. And you're like, it was actually in one of my songs, but I changed the whole verse. So it was in the song Debbie.

And it was, there's that face again. There's that face again. And that terrified me. I was like, why am I keeping on seeing that face in other people? Not in one person. Everyone's looking at me with this kind of like, you know, who wants to be giving that reaction to someone? It's not cool.

I did a talk for a company once about the menopause and I talked about rage and how for women in particular, it's such a shameful emotion, right? Yeah. And it's something that often we don't have or we suppress. until Perry menopause and then you can't suppress it anymore and a woman came up to me afterwards

and had a little cry and said I'm so full of shame Wow I've really the rage is It's real Yeah But I'm Sicilian

I'm already too much I'm half French Yeah So when you're too much Before Perry And then you know Go through this thing And you're like

To triple too much It's hard to There's a lot of shame I had the funniest I have to tell you I had this breakfast club What's that? With my girlfriends

But they're all like 10 years My junior Like we meet up for a breakfast club Yeah How lovely And I was telling them Yeah Oh well how useful are you

I was telling that Well yeah but know your audience I was like so Oh girls It's been so stressful Because like I hit Perry And suddenly I'm like Before a show

I'm really anxious and I'm really touchy and I'm behaving in this way. And I was talking and talking and, you know, and then this one of the girls who shall remain nameless was like, um, I'm really sorry but I just have to admit that I thought Perry was a person.

So this girl was holding space for me to hitting Perry because I hit Perry and then she's thinking, oh, I suppose if I was anxious enough, maybe I'd hit someone. Because I was saying I hit Perry, meaning a hit Perry. Perry Menopause got to that point in my life.

So she's thinking Perry's a person and that I punch, turn to violence, holding space for the violence, nodding politely and then admitted. And she's like, I thought, oh, she said something. Yes. She's going, oh, really? And she thought, I wondered if anyone's checked off. And that was my, know your audience. Ten years, my junior.

Because obviously they're not there yet. And I'm going, oh. I'm super grateful now. They're heading that way. I talk about it at Coxford's dinner parties. It wasn't popular. But there's a feminist in me that when I had the tiniest bit of shame, I was like, no, this is not okay. Well done.

And so I would just speak about it and male friends of Michael. Like, you know, how's your vagina? And so. But it's medicine for me to talk about it and removing that shame and that stigma. Because the more it's spoken about, the more it's normalized, then the people coming after us don't have to live with the shame. So it's our duty and responsibility to not have to go through that year where we're saying, I don't feel like myself, for 12 months. Yes, you can actively take a role in your own future, take a part and decide, make a decision about, I mean, even before you hit perimenopause, you can have a rough idea of what. when you do what action you would like to take.

You can either choose to not take HRT or take HRT. It's great to know before you hit it. Have you done intervention? What path you're going to do? Have you done intervention? I've done countless interventions. I've done so many interventions. Yeah.

Just let me love some estrogen on your arm, you know. You know, being a woman, the reason why we love women is because being a woman is fucking tough sometimes. And we go through a lot and we have. or sister bear, physical, mental, emotional, like, but it brings us closer together. We will always have something in common with any woman we meet. We'll find something. I just feel like also from when I was younger, it just feels like women are generally

more supportive of women. Have you noticed that? Or is that just getting older? I think it's because of what we go through. You know, we suffer. But our sofa brings community. It does. Yeah.

And also, I love the idea of what you just said. You tell one woman something valuable, and she'll tell ten. Yeah. Where some see heroes and others see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. This family is on the brink of Civil War.

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