BARING HER SOUL - 'I CAN EXPERIENCE AMAZING SEX LIKE I HAD IN MY TWENTIES'

NAKED ATTRACTION'S ANNA RICHARDSON ON PUSHING BOUNDARIES, THE MENOPAUSE AND STARTING A FAMILY

- MITYA UNDERWOOD

During her impressive 20-year TV career, presenter Anna Richardson has never shied away from sharing the ups and downs of her life, both on and off screen.

From discovering she had low fertility while making a documentary in her thirties, to facing a barrage of online abuse over her latest show, Naked Education, the 52-year-old leaves nothing off the table.

Chatting to OK!, she shares her thoughts on everything from sex in her fifties, to her plans to adopt and her excitement about a potential Naked Attraction spin-off.

“I know myself inside out,” she tells us over Zoom. “I know exactly what I want in life, I’m unafraid to say what it is, and I’m very happy to be an older woman and impart what knowledge I have to try and help younger people.

“There’s something wonderful about this stage in life. When you come through menopause, it’s like you’re a wise woman of the village. It opens the door into the second half of your life – a life of freedom, self-knowledge, purpose and a life that’s no longer fearful about trying not to get pregnant and worrying about your fertility!”

Having suffered a traumatic ectopic pregnancy as a young student, for which she received “no counselling or therapy”, Anna is all too familiar with the havoc hormones play on a woman – mentally and physically. And she’s keen to share her own experiences in the hope of getting other women talking.

“It’s almost a club,” she tells us. “I’ve not had children, but when women have babies they suddenly join the mother club. It’s the same with menopause. When you hit that stage you go, ‘Did anyone tell you about this?’ and it’s too late until you’re in it. There is a degree of shame and embarrassment.”