After suffering for almost a decade in utter silence, it has been four months since TV personality Jenny Powell had a life-changing hysterectomy. The 56-year-old former Wheel of Fortune star claims the past two years have been horrendous and that it’s time to take women’s health more seriously because she started experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms about nine years ago. “Even though I tried to send out all these positive, smiley, ‘ everything’s lovely ‘ vibes, I was suffering”, she tells OK!.
“I had terrible bleeding, really bad, to the point where I was changing four times a day and in a job like mine, that isn’t good”. She goes on to say, “It was a bit of a joke at yoga because I would always have to leave the mat by the door for the loo about three times in a 45-minute session.” I always felt quite constipated and there was a very congested feeling. Over the past two years, things have been really bad. And I’ve just gotten used to it. It bemuses me why women’s health in this regard is so neglected”.
The idea of “getting used to it” bothers Jenny almost as much as her physical symptoms, but as a busy working mum to Constance, 24, and Pollyanna, 16, her own needs often came last. However, on a family holiday last summer, sun-loving Jenny, who presents a weekend Breakfast Club show on Greatest Hits Radio, stripped off to her bikini (“because I don’t see why I shouldn’t at my age”! she laughs) and some paparazzi shots highlighted something deeply worrying.
I had a bump in my lower abdomen when they photographed me lying down. When I got home, I went to the gynaecologist as it had got bigger, so I was concerned”. My uterus was the size I thought I was around 16 weeks pregnant, according to an MRI that I received. I had fibroids, adenomyosis and full-on pelvic congestion.
“It was so big it was pressing on my intestines, on my bladder, on my kidneys. It’s only looking back – now that it’s gone – that I think, ‘ Wow. ‘ And that’s why I put it all out there. Those of us in our fifties are the first sort of all-singing, all-dancing generation because we’re working, we’re keeping fit, we’re looking after our parents, our children, and we haven’t got time, so we just think, ‘ I can live with that. ‘ However, what we consider to be acceptable simply isn’t.
Due to the five-year local waiting list, Jenny decided to pursue private care after having a robotic hysterectomy in October. She is extremely fortunate to have chosen that option. Shortly after her surgery, she posted a video of herself in hospital to what was then her 40, 000-strong following (now almost 200, 000). The footage amassed 2.5 million views, and she’s continued to share her experience online.
“I’ve been flooded with messages from women who are suffering since that day. Therefore, my gynecologist and I have found ourselves in this newly formed community. It’s lovely, but it is a whole other job now”! Her partner of 12 years, Martin Lowe, has been a great support, she adds, and remained incredibly patient when their social calendar – including holidays – had to be planned around her symptoms.
“Everybody in the household is affected one way or the other and you don’t always want to show your vulnerabilities”, Jenny says. You want to be a strong role model because my oldest daughter is 24 and my youngest daughter is 16-years-old. I don’t want them to look back and think, ‘ Oh my God, when my mum was in her fifties we had to go through the menopause with her, it was awful. ‘
I believe that’s the reason I tried to reverse it and make a positive impact on it. I still wanted to wear my bikini when we took a trip earlier this year. I’m proud of my scars. I told my daughter that they were a part of me, a part of my journey, and part of my story, and I’m proud of how I’ve managed to navigate that journey.
Jenny, whose parents are South African, started working in television at 16, so has practically grown up in the public eye. She started hosting No Limits on the BBC in the middle of the 1980s, and she still recalls her first interview with Annabella Lwin from Bow Wow Wow, before transitioning to Saturday morning kids’ TV on UP2U on BBC One with Anthea Turner and Tony Dortie, and later Gimme 5 on ITV.
Before joining Wheel of Fortune, she also hosted Top of the Pops on television in the late 1980s. Jenny was born in Essex, but she is aware that when she first appeared on screen, there were many questions about her heritage. I think a lot of people were thinking, ‘ Is she Black? Is she white? ‘ Still to this day, maybe. “
Her parents, Myra and Leslie, are of Cape Coloured descent and escaped apartheid in the 1950s with Jenny’s older brother Russ. And if there’s one thing she’s learnt over the years it’s resilience”. Maybe it’s my roots, coming from where we did. My parents being the ‘ wrong colour’, they certainly had resilience. My mum’s 92 and she’s not changed one bit. She’s up for everything. She keeps moving! She enters my home, collects the washing machine, and tends to the garden. But I encourage it all because it’s good to keep moving. “
Her parents were married for almost 70 years before Leslie died, aged 93, in summer 2021. Despite seeing their happy example, Jenny’s not keen to tie the knot again herself, after divorcing her first husband when Pollyanna was a baby. Since Martin has lived with her since the age of 5, Jenny believes there are far more important things for her daughters to focus on, especially since her daughters are quickly gaining in experience.
Connie is an up-and-coming artist who regularly calls home to say “a Banksy has just arrived,” and Polly is still in school. Jenny makes the most of Polly’s time while Connie is still at home thanks to Connie’s presence in London. I’ve discovered that kids have phases, and you only have to let them go for a brief period of time before they return. It’s about appreciating it all while it’s there. “
Now that she’s found her voice in the women’s health field, Jenny’s taking the opportunity and running with it. She claims that organizing wellness retreats is her dream after finishing her yoga teacher training this year. It’s almost like the second part of my career, where you’ve built up a brand, as it were, and you can use it as a tool. I think I’ll be going down the wellbeing, spiritual path, I can’t help it. It’s just what I’m drawn to. We can share those experiences, do some yoga, some breath work and wild swimming. I’ll just take it around and spread the love, I can’t wait! “
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Source: Mirror
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