The ABC News Breakfast co-hosts Lisa Millar and Michael Rowland have praised guest host Imogen Crump for helping to normalise symptoms of perimenopause, after she experienced a severe hot flush on live television.
Crump, editor at the University of Melbourne’s Pursuit and Research news website and former BBC and ABC journalist, was talking through the news headlines on Wednesday morning’s ABC News Breakfast when she stopped mid sentence.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, “I could keep stumbling through, but I’m having such a perimenopausal hot flush right now, live in air, sorry.”
As she laughed her way through it and was fanning herself to cool down, ABC News Breakfast co-host Lisa Millar stepped in, applauding Crump for her honesty.
“We need to make it normal to have these kinds of conversations,” Millar told Crump.
“I love you for even saying it, because we interview people, we talk to people about this, and this is the reality.”
Crump replied: “I don’t think hormones respect national television.”
Although Crump insisted she could carry on, co-host Michael Rowland told Crump to “take a breather”, before the show moved on to the next segment. Crump returned moments after to pick up where she left off.
Hot flushes, what Crump described as “the furnace from the sun”, is a symptom commonly experienced by women going through perimenopause or menopause. While menopause tends to happen between the ages of 45-60, perimenopause can begin as early as your 30s and last up to ten years.
Around 32 per cent of women in Australia are currently experiencing symptoms they attribute to menopause, which severely affects day-to-day life for at least one quarter of Australian women aged between 45-64, according to data from Jean Hailes.
‘I chose to explain.’
Later, in a post on Instagram, Crump addressed her hot flush on live TV, posting the video of the moment it happened.
“And I did come back after a breather and talked about a whole lot of things – not just having perimenopause hot flushes on air,” she wrote in the caption.
“I could either pretend it wasn’t happening (and look inept) or explain why I was stumbling my way through a story on bilateral relations.
“In that moment, I chose to explain. The ABC News Breakfast team were thoughtful and kind.”
Crump said although it wasn’t an ideal situation, she hopes it will trigger more open and honest conversations around perimenopause.
“Do I wish it hadn’t happened on live TV? Yes,” she said.
“But if it’s a step toward having public conversations about something that at least half the population will experience in some form or other, then goodio.”