Davina McCall is urging women to get their "vaginas fixed" as she launches the world's first mid-life sex festival for menopausal women in Scotland today.
The television presenter is lending her support to the Glasgow-based international event as she says more perimenopausal and menopausal women need to speak to their GP about changes which could affect their sex lives.
She is one of 30 expert speakers at the Mid Life Sex Festival, run by Glasgow doctor Claire Macaulay, which aims to provide science-based, "no-bull" sex education for women.
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The former Big Brother host said: “If you’re going to talk to your GP about being menopausal or not then if you have a dry vagina put that on the list to talk to the GP about.
"Your doctor is only going to listen to what you tell then, and you haven’t put your dry vagina down because you're hoping they're going to ask you, then they might not.
"That is the easiest fix of all. And it’s the most uncomfortable and debilitating. It’s the one thing that will affect your desire the most. So get it fixed.”
The Masked Singer judge, who has been outspoken about the experiences of menopausal women in recent years, has signed up to the new month-long online sex festival, which runs throughout February.
Davina said she felt she “disappeared” when she turned 45. She said: “I was completely non-existent, I have to be honest about that. I used to walk down the street in my 30s and I’d get attention. People would look or I’d get a wolf-whistle.
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“Obviously I wouldn’t want to be harassed, but there was nothing. I literally felt like I blended into the wallpaper. I’d walk into a party and think I had nothing to say because nobody heard me or saw me. I felt like I was gone.
“I started saying to myself, if you’re not going to see me, then I’m going to make you see me. I decided I wasn’t going quietly.
“So I make more of an effort over my appearance now than I did when I was younger. You don’t need to fancy me, you just need to see me. I want to exist. And I feel very strongly about that."
She said: “As a woman, if you feel that and feel invisible, start making little changes to make yourself visible. And exercise will give you more confidence to do that.
“You have to desire yourself before anyone else will desire you. Exercise will help you get there, HRT, eating well and acts of self-love, like having a bath and doing a scrub or moisturising your skin.”
The presenter, who has been married twice, also urged women to buy lubrication and sex toys.
Read more: The midlife women bringing the world real sex stories
She said: “When I was a young woman, KY Jelly was something people would talk about and never buy. As a mid-life woman, I now think lube should be in every woman’s drawer, whether you have a dry vagina or not.
“Masturbation is a word people shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about either. It’s one of the greatest joys.
"Every woman should have some lube and a sex toy that works for her in her bedside table. But if something arrives from you for the sex shop tell your children not to open any brown boxes.”
In her online session with Dr Macaulay, Davina also discusses vaginal estrogen and the realities of HRT.
Sex therapist Dr Macaulay, who also works as an oncologist, said: “About 70% of us experiencing perimenopause or menopause are having some sort of difficulty with our sex lives.
Read more: Davina McCall stayed in unhappy marriage for her kids
"That means that if you speak to a group of ten of your friends, seven of us are having problems. And there aren’t many places to have discussions about that or find information on what to do about that.
“If people don’t do something about it now, they’ll still be having the same sexual experience or five or ten years' time. Our experts are helping people move forward and have the sex life they deserve. The festival is about helping people achieve that.”
The 30-day online festival will explore a variety of topics, from sex toys to bedroom kinks, as well as issues around relationships, libido and desire.
Dr Macaulay said: “It’s a comprehensive gathering of experts, real women and celebrities talking about everything from slow sex and tantric sex to kink, vaginal dryness and masturbation.”
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