Gabby Logan: ‘There’s no excuse to slow down!’
Presenter, podcaster, and author Gabby Logan talks to Psychologies about health, happiness, and overcoming hurdles in midlife…
Presenter, podcaster, and author Gabby Logan talks to Psychologies about health, happiness, and overcoming hurdles in midlife…
Words: Hannah Stephenson. Images: Gabby Logan, Yui Mok, John Walton, PA
When TV presenter Gabby Logan started to experience brain fog in her late 40s, struggling to recall the correct word or name on live TV, she initially put it down to tiredness.
“I couldn’t quite get that name or articulate in the way I had previously been able to, so I was concerned, but it coincided with lockdown and not doing any telly for a while. I remember feeling quite nervous going back to live TV.”
But the former international gymnast soon realized that it was a symptom of perimenopause and promptly went onto HRT, which she says has balanced her hormones.
Logan, 51, has now written The Midpoint Plan (Little, Brown, £22), inspired by her eponymous podcast, in which she shares a wealth of advice from guest experts on the show about aspects of reaching middle age – from mental health and hormones to midlife crises, love, sex, and loss, and the importance of exercise and sleep.
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In the book, she details the difficulties experienced entering middle age, stopping short of saying she had her own midlife meltdown. But she admits:
“There were definitely points of feeling, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a huge maelstrom of things going on, I’m not sure how I’m equipped to navigate all this.’”
That melting pot of feelings reached a peak in lockdown, in 2021, when she recalls she experienced both physical changes and anxiety about the Covid-induced state of the wider world, which is when she started her podcast.
Talking to well-known faces on the podcast about their own midlife challenges, including actor Jill Halfpenny, DJ Adele Roberts, and former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond, alongside guest experts, definitely helped her own mental health, she thinks. But she doesn’t worry about growing older or ageism in the world of live TV, she says.
“Nowadays, it’s a very different place for older women on TV than it was 20 or 30 years ago. I’m fortunate to be in a time where it’s a different landscape. I think it would be very hard to be ageist against a woman on TV now, because of the women who’ve gone before.”
She cites Sir David Attenborough and Dame Mary Berry as examples of older TV icons who are still working, and how people value their wisdom, experience, and warmth, and notes that the landscape of sexism has also changed.
“It’s the idea that women have got a shelf life, which we don’t see on TV as much,” she observes. “Years ago, you had that old trope where the male was always in his 50s and the woman co-presenter was always in her 20s. But things have changed. You look at the new This Morning pairing of Cat (Deeley) and Ben (Shephard) – they are similar ages, which is more normal to see.
“Sexism and misogyny manifest themselves in different ways,” she continues. “There is definitely some disparity in terms of wages, in terms of what people are valued as, but I think that’s societal, not just related to broadcasting.”
She’s been married to former rugby star Kenny Logan for 23 years, with whom she has 18-year-old twins Reuben and Lois. What’s the secret of their happy marriage?
“You have your ups and downs, and times when things are more tricky and more challenging, but you want to get through those situations because it makes it better on the other side – rather than running away from problems and starting again with somebody else, or doing something else. It’s worth it because, when you get through it, you are stronger.”
Indeed, she supported Logan through prostate cancer in 2022, diagnosed after she encouraged him to get a well-man check. He went on to have a radical prostatectomy at the age of 50 and it took him a good eight to 10 months to get his mojo back, she recalls. He has to go back every year for tests – and so far so good.
“It’s made us much more mindful of little things to which we might previously have said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ instead now saying, ‘Get that checked out.’ And I don’t just mean regarding cancer, but anything. There are lots of ways your body can go wrong.”
Logan, who oozes positivity and confidence, says in her book that you’re never too old to try new things and take up new challenges – and she practices what she preaches…
Read the full interview in this month’s issue of Psychologies, out now!
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The Midpoint Plan by Gabby Logan (Piatkus, £22) is out now.