Why Melanie Sykes abstained from sex for a year
Correction: An earlier version of this story included information from a source whose expertise may not be valid. The quotes from the source have been removed.
Melanie Sykes has revealed she didn't have sex for a year after admitting she used it as a "Band-Aid" to mask problems in relationships.
The presenter, 52, also revealed that despite a period of celibacy her libido remains "high" and that she learnt a lot about herself after she abstained from sex for 12 months.
"I’ve always had a high libido," she tells Sam Baker from the The Shift, a podcast aimed at women over 40.
"Because I wanted to have sex with someone, I would. But it wasn’t necessarily good for me, or they weren’t particularly nice people.
"But if you’re driven by your libido, which men are notorious for and women not so much – which I think is bull**** because I think loads of women just want to get f***** sometimes and there’s nothing wrong with it – but I also realised that I needed a connection."
Sykes was reported to have split from her boyfriend Riccardo Simionato in September 2022, after meeting him on holiday in Venice in 2020. She was married to actor Daniel Caltagirone from 2001-2009, sharing two children, Roman, 21, and Valentino, 18, and was also previously married to Jack Cockings from 2013-2016.
She isn't currently known to be dating anyone.
Read more: How to overcome intimacy anxiety and have better sex
The mum-of-two said sometimes having sex was tantamount to "putting a Band-Aid on something", but actually it wasn't solving the current issue.
"If you can resolve an argument with a really great session of sex, it doesn’t mean the problem has gone," she explains.
"And I thought if I withdraw the sex, then the problems I can just avoid.
"And so I've just avoided. And after a year I was so much more understanding of myself and had more respect for myself."
The presenter also figured out during her sex-free period that she wasn't a fan of casual hook-ups.
"I won’t lay with anyone that isn’t my equal ever again," she continues.
"It’s as simple as that because I don’t like casual sex. I tried it, I don’t like it.
"But it doesn’t stop me wanting to have sex because that’s just me being a full-on woman who likes it. What’s wrong? There’s nothing wrong with it."
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