EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS

A HOST OF STARS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN

Speaking out for hello!’s new Menopause Workplace Pledge campaign are menopause warriors (from far left): Julie Graham, Michelle Griffith Robinson, Ruby Hammer, Penny Lancaster and Nadia Sawalha

The studio resounds with quick-fire questions, shared anecdotes and loud laughter as some of our most popular TV presenters, actresses, sportswomen and entrepreneurs get to know each other on our exclusive hello! shoot.

While Penny Lancaster, 50, and Nadia

Sawalha, 56, work together on Loose Women, actress Julie Graham, 56, former Olympian Michelle Griffith Robinson, 50, and makeup artist Ruby Hammer, 59, haven’t met before.

But they have one important thing in common: a desire to speak out about the menopause. It’s why they jumped at the chance to help us mark the launch of hello!’s Menopause Workplace Pledge campaign.

This month, in partnership with the health charity Wellbeing of Women, we are encouraging companies to support their employees who are going through the menopause.

And help is needed – it is estimated that 900,000 women in the UK have quit their jobs due to their struggles with menopausal symptoms.

“There’s a whole army of amazing women out there waiting to be utilised so I think any employer would ignore that army at their peril,” says Julie, who wrote last year’s nine-part YouTube series about menopause, Dun Breedin’, starring her actress friends Tamzin Outhwaite, Angela Griffin and Tracy-Ann Oberman.

“I now have more experience, knowledge and confidence and we have more to give – that’s what employers need to think about.”

Nadia adds: “The exhaustion you battle with is genuine and you can run out of fuel, so if companies are going to lose great members of staff, then maybe all we have to do is tweak the way we look at it.”

For Penny, who is married to rock star Sir Rod Stewart, the discussion needs to include more than just women.