Menopausal mother in the final of the Ms Great Britain Classic beauty pageant says women should ‘squeeze every drop of fun from life’

A menopausal beauty pageant finalist says women should “squeeze every drop of fun out of life” since middle age doesn’t have to mean “cocoa and knitting.”

Gina Broadhurst, 47, said menopause left her with “crushing exhaustion, mental confusion and rage” after two gynecologists said she couldn’t take hormone replacement therapy because of a blood condition.

She ‘got her life back’ when she saw a gynecologist in February, who said that while she can’t use HRT gels, she could have it in patch form. “It wasn’t instant, but I had the energy to be a mother and go back to work,” she said.

The mother-of-two then met a director of the Ms Great Britain Classic, an over-45 branch of Miss Great Britain, who suggested she enter.

Ms Broadhurst said: “I just laughed it off, saying she was obviously too old, and surely beauty pageants are for women who have nothing to do but walk around in bathing suits.”

Ms Broadhurst, pictured with her husband Simon and their two children, struggled with ‘wasting’ periods, miscarriages and then menopause.

Ms Broadhurst said menopause left her with “crushing exhaustion, mental confusion and rage” after two gynecologists said she couldn’t take hormone replacement therapy because of a blood condition.

But when the director said the pageant was “nothing like the sexist parades of the 1950s” and had a strong focus on advocacy and charity work, she changed her mind.

Mrs Broadhurst, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, is already in the final of October. After struggling with ‘weak’ periods, miscarriages and then menopause, she decided to advocate for women’s health.

She said: “You bring your message to the platform, and I knew exactly what mine would be.” Middle age isn’t about cocoa and knitting, you shouldn’t just give up, it’s a full, new and exciting life.’