During the Radio 2 show backlash, Jo Whiley was experiencing menopause

At the same time as her Radio 2 show with Simon Mayo was being panned, DJ Jo Whiley said she was suffering from menopausal symptoms.

The presenters were teamed together by the BBC station in 2018, but listeners complained that they lacked on-air chemistry.

Whiley told the Daily Mail, “It all happened at a moment when I was most concerned about brain fog. With so much pressure and stuff to remember, I felt I couldn’t perform the Drivetime show.”

The 56-year-old went on to say: I’m alright, I thought up until that point. HRT [hormone replacement treatment] isn’t necessary for me. However, I had reached a point when I was really struggling. I decided to give it a shot. 

Whiley was moved to Drivetime in 2018 to act as a co-presenter for Mayo in an effort to increase the number of female presenters on Radio 2. They’d known one other for years and had worked together on Radio 1 in the 1990s. Listeners, on the other hand, grumbled that when they were put together, they didn’t work. Mayo left the station after only a few months on the show. Whiley returned to her normal evening slot, Drivetime was taken over by Sara Cox.

Whiley went into great detail about the various symptoms she has had, many of which have harmed her professional confidence.

“On the radio, I felt like a liability, and it was a very uncomfortable feeling not to be in control of what I was doing, suddenly reaching for words. She stated her case.”

When a woman’s periods stop and she can no longer become pregnant naturally, she has reached menopause. The body can begin to act strangely, and many women suffer symptoms long before their periods stop – this is known as peri-menopause. Hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and a loss of sexual desire are all common symptoms. During this time, bladder issues and vaginal dryness are common.