Yahoo Lifestyle People Are Praising Naomi Watts For Being So Honest About Her Experience Having Sex With Billy Crudup For The First Time While Going Through Menopause
Naomi Watts has never shied away from being as open and honest as possible when it comes to sharing elements of her personal life with the public.
And now she's taken it a step further with her new book, Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause. In the book, which was released on Jan. 21, she details what it was like trying to start a family at the age of 36, while also being told she was perimenopausal.
In the description for the book on Amazon, it says, "This is the book Naomi Watts wishes she had when she first started experiencing symptoms."
To celebrate the book's release, Naomi took part in a conversation on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she joined Drew, actor Brooke Shields, OB-GYN Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, and psychiatrist Dr. Judith Joseph to discuss menopause journeys.
Brooke recently released a book titled Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, which also details aging in the public eye.
On the panel, Naomi explained she went and saw her doctor at age 36 after she was having trouble getting pregnant. It was then that her doctor told her, "It looks like you are close to menopause." She said it felt "extremely early" and "shocking" to hear that, especially while trying to start a family.
"It created such panic in me," she added.
According to the Mayo Clinic, menopause can happen in the 40s or 50s. In the United States, the average age for a woman to begin menopause is 51.
Then, she remembered that her mom had gone into early menopause at 45. When Naomi asked her mom, "What is this? Why didn't you tell me more?" her mom replied, "Well, these were the conversations that I didn't have with my mother, so I never had them with you."
She continued, "It was no blame on her. It was just the societal message that was passed from generation to generation that we suffer in silence."
Naomi explained that she was ultimately able to conceive naturally, but after her second child at 40 years old, she went "hardcore" into menopause symptoms.
She shares both children with her ex-partner Liev Schreiber.
Outside of the panel discussion, Naomi was also a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she and Drew got to talk more one-on-one about her new book and menopause journey.
In the clip posted to TikTok, Naomi discusses her first sexual encounter with her now-husband, Billy Crudup, while going through menopause.
Naomi and Billy began dating in 2017. They got married in 2023.
"I'm not going to embarrass him and talk about it in depth on live TV, but there is a chapter where I explore it and go into detail, but I was mortified because I had my patch on," Naomi began.
According to the Mayo Clinic, an estradiol and levonorgestrel combination skin patch is commonly "used to treat moderate to severe symptoms of menopause."
The hormones from the patch are absorbed through your skin into your body.
She explained that the adhesive on the patches is typically "very sticky" and "takes ages to get off." This resulted in her often leaving the "nasty mark" left by the adhesive on her body because it was so hard to scrub off.
Naomi continued, saying that before getting intimate with her now-husband for the first time, she ran off to the bathroom and "panicked," trying to get the sticky residue left behind by a few patches off her body.
"I was in there too long and then came out sort of like that, frantic, and he said, 'Are you okay? Are you not in the mood?'" she recalled.
She said she fumbled for what to say before revealing, "Look, I'm in menopause, and I have this patch, and I'm wearing it, and it leaves this… I'm old, should I just leave?"
Drew added that this sounded like a scene out of a movie.
Naomi said she was trying so hard to apologize and "shrinking" into herself before Billy finally said, "We're the same age. We're the same age. What is this? This is science. How can I help?"
While the clip making the rounds online ends there, Naomi continued in the episode, saying, "Truth can be so liberating. People fear that when they get to this point that the sex is gonna be over, and for some it's true that your libido goes down. You can get support for things like that."
She concluded, saying, "But I say I just encourage women to get the communication going. Be honest. Tell them what you're going through. Most of the time, people wanna help."
Shortly after the clip was posted on TikTok, people flocked to the comments praising Naomi for having this open and vulnerable discussion in such a public setting. One user wrote, "I've NEVER Heard someone talk about the patch and how it affects us 😭😭😭 Thank you ❤️❤️❤️"
Another top comment reads, "I love when people open themselves and share experiences like this. it's so refreshing!"
And another added, "how beautiful. menopause is harder than people realize for many reasons. sometimes we just cry bc we are in it. my husband is very supportive. Support from loved ones helps so much."
One person wrote, "I’m old-should I just leave? is going to be my default response to all things going forward. 😂"
People began sharing their own experiences in the comments, too. One TikTok user wrote, "I'm 32 and in menopause. It scares me to date to explain this to someone." And another didn't even know the patches were a thing, writing, "I didn’t know there was a patch??"
One person wrote, "The most realistic story of being in menopause."
Many also praised Billy for his response to Naomi in this situation, with the top comment on the video reading, "I have ALWAYS loved Billy Crudup."
Another user wrote, "Billy Crudup was (and still is) my OG Hollywood crush."
Overall, this is such an important conversation that more women should feel comfortable having, and it's so refreshing to hear Naomi's experience.
You can watch Naomi's candid story here. And the full roundtable discussion on The Drew Barrymore Show here.
You can purchase Naomi's book, Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause, here, too.
