Countryfile presenter Anita Rani has revealed she was left in tears by crippling menopause symptoms, describing the anxiety as so overwhelming that it "knocked the wind out of my sails." The 48-year-old broadcaster shared a candid video on Instagram earlier this month, telling her 220,000 followers she wanted to share something "deeply personal."
In the video, Rani said: "I have been experiencing something that I have never experienced in my life experienced before and it has taken the wind out of my sails, actually. I am suffering crippling anxiety. I am overwhelmed, I'm unsure. And for somebody who has dealt with life like this with a power of a first born Indian daughter who bosses life, who also just copes - this is like, 'What the hell is going on?'"
Support from fellow presenters
The video received over 20,000 likes, with fellow presenters Zoe Ball and Lucy Alexander among those who reacted. Lucy Alexander, former Homes Under The Hammer presenter, wrote: "Beach walks - listening to the sea & sunsets help me. Anxiety when you're working is tough to navigate. Early nights - sleep & breathing."
Zoe Ball, former Radio 2 host, commented: "Oh darling girl. It is so overwhelming when it comes. I hear you. It was by far my biggest symptom with menopause and undid me quite a bit. Sending you so much love."
Breaking down during a run
In an interview with The Times, Rani recalled: "A few weeks ago I was running in my local park when suddenly I burst into tears, which for someone who releases tears mainly through songs and movies is a new experience. These emotions bust out of nowhere, surrounded by strangers in the middle of my 5k run, I felt so overwhelmed that tears started flowing down my face."
She added: "Last week, while out on another run, I posted a video on Instagram speaking about how this crippling anxiety had knocked the wind out of my sails. Suddenly, everything I have historically dealt with, tolerated and thought was important felt meaningless and exhausting. My coping mechanisms had deserted me."
Seeking help and trying HRT
Rani explained that during her late thirties she visited a doctor five times in one year after "feeling like my world had ended", but was advised to seek a therapist. She had pushed the thought of perimenopause to the back of her mind, only accepting it in her mid-forties when she noticed changes in her periods.
The presenter has now decided to try Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to feel like herself again. Perimenopause is the natural transition period leading up to menopause—defined as 12 consecutive months without a period—typically starting in your 40s and lasting 4 to 10 years as estrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate.
Symptoms include hot flushes, sweats, heart palpitations, sleep disturbances, and mental health changes such as brain fog, increased anxiety, low mood, and irritability, according to the NHS. HRT manages these symptoms by replacing declining levels of oestrogen, progesterone, and sometimes testosterone.
Rani concluded: "Sharing that video has made me so emotional because I felt held and seen by all the other women who are going through it too. I put a post up in a moment of crisis and was scooped up by strangers."
