Popstar Gabrielle has revealed that stopping taking her menopause treatment, during her latest tour, turned her “snappy”.
The 54-year-old, who shot to fame in the Nineties with hits Dreams and Out of Reach, recently finished a 32-date UK and Ireland tour – during which she ran out of HRT patches.
“Everyone actually got to experience the Gabrielle who was not on HRT which is not really nice,” says the singer. “I was more snappy and a bit more moody.”
“I’d run out because I was on tour. You actually have blood tests and stuff, and I had no time to go and get blood tests done. I just thought, ‘Oh, it’s fine. I’m sure I’d be alright, but I actually wasn’t!”
The singer – who previously opened up about struggling in her heavy Masked Singer costume “as a menopausal woman” when she appeared on the ITV show in 2021 – said her manager and a couple of other people close to her on the tour asked her what was happening.
“I got them in the end and the difference was evident – everyone was happy. The moment I was back on it, it was my God who’s this in the building? So it was crucial,” said Gabrielle (real name Louise Gabrielle Bobb), known for her signature look covering her right eye, due to the condition ptosis.
“Some people are luckier than others when it comes to symptoms. But I realised that, yeah, I can’t be without my patches.”
Exercise and eating well, as well as being mindful to take her medication and use HRT patches, has helped her manage menopause symptoms. “I felt that the moment I was on board with everything, life just got so much easier. ”
Back with a new album this May, A Place In Your Heart, Gabrielle, who has teamed up with Actimel Plus to encourage people to support their immune systems in winter, says taking care of her health in the lead-up to the tour was key – especially now she’s in her 50s.
The 32-date tour was the longest she’s ever done – plus, she’s a grandmother now. “It was incredible, [but] as you can imagine I had to be well on top of doing all the things that help my immune system – just to stay well and get through the shows.
View this post on InstagramAdvertisement
“When it comes to preparation, a lot went into it, I had to really think about things that I ate and what I drank and what I didn’t. Hydration was the key. I am vitamin D-deficient,” she shared (the vitamin is important for immunity).
“I couldn’t have done [the tour] if I hadn’t thought really long and hard about how I was going to look after myself.
“When I got home, I didn’t sleep for 24 hours. And I’m like, I’m in my 50s. I thought this is only something I did when I was younger, but I had the energy. I just feel the best I’ve ever felt – as long as I’m on the HRT.”
The singer, who also recently did a surprise performance of her song Sunshine to commuters at London’s Waterloo station, says looking after her health is different in her 50s, compared to when she first burst onto the music scene in 1993.
“When you get to this point in your life, you tend to be a bit more health-conscious, because I’m a grandma now – I need all the energy I can get!” says the mum-of-two, whose grandson is nine months old. “He’s a little munchkin and he’s very fast. It’s just amazing and the beauty of being a grandma is that you can give them back!”
Having a trainer helps keep her energy levels up. “I do a lot of cardiovascular stuff, I do a bit of weight training, which is good for people my age, it’s good for the bones.
“It’s not until you get to a certain time in your life. And then [think], oh my God, you need to look out for yourself and look after yourself. Because I’ve been doing this I’ve do feel a lot happier in myself, and less achy.”
These days she takes nutrition seriously, because “I have to”. But she doesn’t deprive herself. “So eating things in moderation and other times you think, ‘I’ll be a bit naughty today’, but you’re allowed to be – that’s called living.”
Now that her children are grown up (20 and 28), she doesn’t have the same restrictions that having young children brings, and this is a key time in her life for doing things just for herself.
“I’m 100% embracing life in my 50s. I’m prioritising things that bring me joy. It’s not about putting others before me in that sense, I will as a parent, we always do that, but sometimes we need to then take time out for ourselves and this is what I find I’m doing now. Anything I don’t want to do, I don’t do it.
“When you are a parent, and especially in the early years, you put others before you. Now I’m discovering that, well, I’m loving this life, I can do what I want. I just want to do as much as I can do – just because I can.”
Gabrielle teamed up with Actimel Plus, which provides 100 per cent of the reference intake of vitamin D to help support the normal function of the immune system.
