Entertainment
Loose Women star threw plates across kitchen after suffering from ‘mental breakdowns’-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro
Her co-stars staged an intervention.
Penny Lancaster said her menopause was misdiagnosed by a doctor (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Loose Women star Penny Lancaster has detailed how she felt she was spiraling out of control before discovering she was going through the menopause.
The model, 53, said she suffered several ‘mental breakdowns’ after her debilitating symptoms started in 2020 and during one threw plates across the kitchen in front of her husband Rod Stewart and their two sons.
Recalling the incident to The Times, Penny said: ‘I picked up the plates and I threw them across the kitchen. Which is an outrageous thing to think of — who the hell would throw the dinner?
‘But the physical act [was hard to stop]… Because I couldn’t contain it any more. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t want to hurt myself. But I felt like it was getting to that point.
‘I threw these plates of food across the kitchen as hard as I could, to make as much noise as I could. As if the noise… as if someone would wake up, someone would notice me, someone would have the answer.’
Penny said she through the plate in front of her two sons and husband Rod (Picture: Instagram)
Penny said Rod suggested she book a GP appointment after breaking down in the kitchen (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Penny said the Maggie May singer, 79, and their children Alastair, 18, and Aiden, 13, were unharmed. Rod also suggested she book a GP appointment.
The police officer had assumed she was having a mental health crisis triggered by the pandemic and the doctor diagnosed her with depression, prescribing her anti-depressants.
However, Penny later discovered the medic had misdiagnosed her when her Loose Women co-stars staged an intervention when her condition did not improve.
They booked her an appointment with a menopause specialist and she was weaned off the anti-depressants and given hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Penny said her Loose Women co-stars staged an intervention (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
What is the menopause?
According to the NHS, menopause is when your periods stop due to lower hormone levels. It usually affects women between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.
It can cause symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, brain fog, hot flushes and irregular periods. These symptoms can start years before your periods stop and carry on afterwards.
The main medicine treatment for menopause symptoms is hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which replaces the hormones that are at low levels. There are also other treatments and medications available.
On learning her symptoms were due to the menopause, Penny said: ‘I burst into tears because of the good news. I’m not going mad. I can save my marriage. I can keep my family together.’
Penny is now a menopause activist – and advocates for HRT to be free or heavily discounted for those who need it.
She previously told Loose Women: ‘We’re not asking for extra, we’re just asking for our hormones back, we’re asking to feel normal.
‘So if the government could just give us what they’ve promised and bring in, ideally, free HRT but if not, a huge discount on it, because it’s just too much especially the way things are right now.’
While the Loose Women panel played an influential role in her menopause diagnosis, she stepped back as a regular panellist last year after nearly a decade.
Her agent explained previously to Metro.co.uk that she would no longer appear on the ITV show ‘purely due to other professional and personal commitments.’
They added: ‘Penny loves the show; and LW loves Penny. But such appearances as she is able to make in the future will be as a guest.’
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV and ITVX.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Entertainment – MetroRead More
