EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite revealed that the menopause knocked her confidence after she was plagued by anxiety and insomnia.
The actress, who turns 51 this week, said her symptoms kicked in as she was playing a menopausal character, calling it "almost psychosomatic".
Tazmin, who found fame playing Mel Owen in EastEnders, began the perimenopause at the start of the first lockdown when she was filming Dun Breedin' - a YouTube comedy drama about a group of women in their 50s.
"When I was playing a woman with menopause I ended up getting the symptoms - anxiety, night sweats and insomnia," she told Closer.
After hearing her co-stars Kate Thornton and Julie Graham discussing the 'red mist' symptom, Tazmin sought help from her doctor.
"The way they were talking about it, I was like 'Jeez, I want to get on HRT before I get that. The rage looks bad!'" she said.
She admitted that she blamed the menopause for "setting back" her self-confidence but said her partner and film-maker Tom Child showers her with compliments.
"He thinks I'm Superwoman, which is great. To have somebody really love you and think you're really incredible and funny is a wonderful thing," she said.
The mum-of-two met Tom, 29, at a yoga class and then went on a five-hour pub crawl for their first date.
Due to the age gap, Tazmin didn't expect anything serious with Tom but it wasn't long before the pair were inseparable and he moved into the family home that Tazmin shares with children Florence, 13, and Marnie, 9.
She also recently opened up about feeling 'guilty' for not discussing her miscarriages in the past.
She praised Myleene Klass over her recent documentary on baby loss.
Quoting a tweet from her pal on the W documentary, the star said: "Thank YOU for opening up and talking about it.
"I feel guilty for NOT talking about losing many babies as I felt a sense of shame."
Tazmin was recently blasted by Alice Evans, who has been incredibly public in her heartbreak and fury at estranged husband Ioan Gruffudd.
Alice called Tazmin out for congratulating Ioan Gruffudd's new relationship with Bianca Wallace after the pair went official on Instagram.
After laying eyes on Ioan’s post – where he insisted that Bianca helped him to smile again in the midst of his divorce – the EastEnders star penned ‘amazing’ underneath the relationship reveal snap.
But as soon as Alice saw Tamzin’s comment, she turned on the actress.
“Tamzin? WTH? You knew about this???” the heartbroken star raged.
