Davina McCall has said that raising awareness of the menopause has given her “purpose” at this stage in her life.

The 54-year-old TV presenter has been outspoken about the lack of medical knowledge on the subject in recent years, and opened up about her own menopause journey and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in a Channel 4 documentary last year.

McCall, who is the cover star of the June edition of Good Housekeeping, told the magazine that she initially began exploring the topic as she wanted to educate herself.

She said: “I sort of fell into it by accident because I wanted to learn more about the menopause for myself and, as I did, I thought, ‘How is it that all women don’t know these things, when 51% of the population is female?’.

“What’s lovely is that being able to use my platform to spread the word has given me purpose at this stage in my life.”

Her Channel 4 documentary, titled Davina McCall: Sex, Myths And The Menopause, explored “midlife taboos” from sex to hormone therapy.

Following a positive public response to the programme, the broadcaster announced the TV star will return for a follow-up documentary.

Davina McCall: Sex, Mind And The Menopause, which will focus on menopause at work, will air on May 2 on Channel 4.

The TV presenter admitted that when she became perimenopausal at work, she did not want to talk to anyone about it.

She said: “I was doing a live TV show called Stepping Out and I was forgetting the names of contestants and making mistakes on the autocue, which I’d never done before.

“One day, the producer came into my dressing room and said, ‘Are you okay? You don’t seem yourself’ and I said ‘Oh, I’m fine.’

“Then, when she left, I just cried. I thought ‘What’s happening to me?’”

In October, McCall joined other famous names like Penny Lancaster and Mariella Frostrup at a rally in Parliament Square, where the crowd celebrated as the Government pledged more menopause support and reduced HRT costs.

Further progress came on Sunday as the Health Secretary announced that he intends to appoint an HRT tsar amid a shortage of medication which has left women desperate.

This came as many women are reportedly sharing their prescriptions, with some said to be made suicidal by the debilitating menopause symptoms they suffer without the medication.

The full interview with Davina McCall will be available in the June 2022 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale on April 28.