Emma Barnett opens up about feeling ‘robbed’ of her identity after perimenopause at 38: ‘I’m still waiting to come back to who I was before’

by

Emma Barnett has shared that going through perimenopause at age 38 made her feel like she’d lost a part of who she was.

The journalist, who is now 40 years old, recently discussed going through a period of change, saying she still feels like she’s rediscovering her former self.

Perimenopause is the transition before menopause, and it happens when your ovaries slowly start making less estrogen.

This can cause symptoms such as irregular periods and hot flushes. 

Menopause, meanwhile, marks the point when periods have stopped for 12 consecutive months.

In a recent episode of her BBC podcast, “Ready To Talk with Emma Barnett,” she shared with guest Kate Thornton that she’s felt, for the first time, a desire to not be a woman, saying she’d “quite like to be a bloke.”

She believes something has been stolen and is frustrated that there’s no emergency number available to report it. She wants to file a crime report.

‘Yeah, someone stole me.’ There is no one to report this to.’

Emma expressed her hope that openly discussing perimenopause and the natural hormonal changes women experience starting in their 30s will become more common and accepted.

As a longtime listener, I wasn’t surprised to hear about the awkwardness between Emma and Nick Robinson on their recent show. It’s only been a few months since people started noticing tension after reports of a disagreement between them – it was pretty clear something was off, even then!

Despite Emma and Nick, both 61, attempting to appear normal, listeners to Radio 4 sensed a noticeable tension between them in April.

Listeners noticed a clear change in the BBC’s popular radio show, as the hosts, Emma and Nick, barely spoke to each other during the two-hour broadcast, unlike their usual friendly and lively interaction.

Someone on X commented that they enjoyed the playful conversation between Emma Barnett and Nick Robinson on this morning’s broadcast.

The post included a picture of Hannibal Lecter and Princess Diana side-by-side, meant to illustrate their strained relationship.

This follows a report in The Mail on Sunday that the Woman’s Hour presenter had complained about a long-time host of the Today Programme, describing him as ‘overbearing’ shortly after she began working on the show last April.

Someone else pointed out the irony of Emma Barnett describing Nick Robinson as overbearing, suggesting it’s a case of hypocrisy.

Last month, reports surfaced that the two journalists hadn’t been on the show together for three months, leading to speculation about personality conflicts and causing problems for the show’s production team.

Emma and Nick, who earns up to £349,000 from the BBC, have only co-hosted the ‘Today’ program together 13 times – far less than any other hosting pairs. Before their most recent appearance in December, they had shared the studio just three times in over 150 days.

Emma reportedly complained to Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News and Current Affairs, about her colleague Nick, feeling he was too controlling during their broadcasts.

Sources familiar with the situation confirmed it was resolved without any penalties, and there was no indication that Nick had acted improperly.

They explained the conflict stemmed from the natural challenges that arise when two assertive people work together. While disagreements were normal, they felt this situation had been exaggerated.

According to a source, Emma filed a complaint against Nick. They’ve been experiencing ongoing tension, and Emma feels uncomfortable being around him because she finds him controlling.

However, other BBC sources dismissed the reports and stated that no official complaint had been made to Ms. Turness.

Read More

2025-11-08 04:50