'I'VE WORKED HARD AND HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE HERE'

SINGER CLAIRE RICHARDS ON FINDING STRENGTH AS SHE RELEASES HER NEW ALBUM - AND HOW SHE'S GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE PERIMENOPAUSE

- GEMMA MCCARTNEY

CHANGING TIMES

It’s safe to say Claire Richards is entering a new era of her life. Not only is the Steps singer and mum-of-two launching her up-tempo second solo album at the end of this month, but personally she’s going through a transition as well.

Claire, who is soon to turn 46, is chatty and candid when we natter over Zoom about her exciting latest venture. But as we delve deeper, she also lifts the lid on a personal battle that she’s dealing with – the perimenopause.

Keen to spread awareness of the symptoms and keep the conversation going around the subject, Claire opens up to us about her own experiences.

Over the last year she started suffering from severe anxiety, night sweats, rage and, at her lowest ebb, she struggled to leave the house.

“Around the time I was doing The Masked Singer, I started really noticing symptoms that threw me a little bit. The anxiety while doing that show… I get nervous anyway, but it was off the scale,“ she says.

“I was having these really bad palpitations that I’ve never had before – and it was every single day. I would just be sitting in my dressing room and my heart was beating out of my neck.

“At first, I didn’t realise what it was. I feel quite lucky that I’m going through it at a time where it’s being spoken about by other female celebrities who’ve really brought it to the forefront. It’s amazing how little anybody really knows about it.”

In fact, her symptoms became so bad that at their worst she distanced herself from friends.

“I couldn’t face going out because I was feeling anxious about going out and socialising,” she admits.