Ulrika Jonsson flirted with the idea of asking her husband's permission to have an affair after their sex life ground to a halt.
The Swedish beauty was on the verge of embarking on an extra-marital fling after she and Brian Monet had sex just once in eight years.
It was days before her 50th birthday that the mum of four felt "wild and desperate" enough to consider begging her husband to let her seek intimacy elsewhere.
Writing for the Daily Mail , Ulrika opened up about how the toll her menopause took on her marriage - and how Brian's lack of sexual interest in her led to "deep hurt and frustration".
"This thought [about having an affair] was transitory and born out of sheer desperation - infidelity was an act I knew full well I would never actually embark on, let alone seek Brian's permission to pursue," she wrote.
"Indeed, it only occurred to me to ask in the first place because I'd reached a point where shock tactics seemed the only way to get my husband's attention — the only way to force him to realise just how miserable I'd become, while communicating the urgency of our situation."
Ulrika said she knew "damn well" she didn't want to be with anyone else, but nor could she come to terms with never being touched intimately again.
"Uttering those words would have been the ultimate cry for help within my marriage. Thankfully though, they remained unspoken, meaning that as my relationship fell apart, my dignity, at least, remained intact," she added.
Six months later, and Ulrika's third marriage to Brian broke down and ended in divorce.
It wouldn't have been the first time the TV presenter had had a fling - she hit headlines in 2002 when she confirmed rumours of an affair with the then-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was at that point with a long-term girlfriend.
Ulrika has previously been married to John Turnbull and Lance Gerrard-Wright, and has four children from previous relationships.
