Naomi Watts Revealed the Romcom-Way She Told Husband Billy Crudup She Was in Menopause in New Book
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Naomi Watts has been quite a badass when it comes to destigmatizing menopause, especially in Hollywood. She’s done so much, and she’s continuing to do more by releasing a new book called Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause. In this book, she revealed how she told her now-husband Billy Crudup (with whom she married in 2023 after six years together) that she has menopause; and the scene is something straight out of a romcom.
Watts recently gave an excerpt of her book to The Sunday Times, detailing how when she and Crudup “were finally about to sleep together off camera, I politely excused myself before things got hot and frisky.” She did this to try to scratch her hormone patch off (and for those who don’t know, a hormone patch help boost estrogen levels)! She tried to rip it off so he wouldn’t know she’s in menopause, but after trying so hard to get it off, she couldn’t. So, she stepped out, and this is what happened:
“Is everything OK in there?” he called, because I was taking so long.
I came out mortified.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I stumbled and reached for words, but nothing would quite come out.
“Are you OK?” he said, with a gentle hand on my arm.
“Menopause!” I blurted out. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
Suddenly the words came gushing out, “I wear these hormone patches, and I didn’t want you to see it because then you would know I’m in early menopause, which means I am old, and you wouldn’t want me and, oh my God, should I just leave?”
A smile broke over his face. He seemed very relieved that the issue wasn’t a lack of desire. Phew.
He told me he thought it was great I was taking care of myself, and he asked me how he could help.
Double phew.
We love a supportive boyfriend, open communication, and telling your truth. We love the whole dang thing! This is something out of a romcom, and we’re obsessed; and we seriously can’t wait for more tidbits from her upcoming book.
Like we said, she’s been working to destigmatize it for years now, previously telling SheKnows: “I went into perimenopause earlier than my peers and there wasn’t a ton of conversation going on about menopause at the time. My own personal experience echoed what I went through with fertility, which I found to be very lonely and shameful, the notion of not being able to bare children was making me feel ‘less than.’ I knew if I was feeling this way that there were likely others feeling this way, and that society’s perspective needs to change…The menopause movement is coming, and I hope my generation is the last to be suffering in silence.”
Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause will be released on Jan 21, 2025.
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