MICHELLE TAKES HER BIGGEST LEAP

The former athlete on why she's happier than ever in her 50s - and how she's teaching her children to follow suit

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Michelle Griffith-Robinson has a lot to celebrate. Happier than ever at 53, the former British triple-jump champion will mark 20 years of marriage with her husband, Matthew Robinson, later this year.

It was love at first sight across the Olympic dining hall before Michelle asked the former Welsh international rugby union player for his number. But she credits the success of their relationship to years of therapy.

"I met Matthew at 30,” the athlete turned life coach tells Ateh Jewel in this week's Second Act podcast, sponsored by Absolute Collagen.

“I was a woman but even then I still had so many of the insecurities of a 20-year-old. It was about addressing that. I knew that if I wanted this marriage to work, I needed to do some deep diving into myself.”

Through her work as a life coach, she has noticed a pattern in women leaving their relationships between the ages of 45 and 55. “They're finding themselves and prioritising themselves and thinking: 'Is this it? Do I want to endure this for the next ten, 20 years?? Maybe not,” she says.

“Before you jump and water somebody else's grass, really have a deep dive into what you want and share that with your partner. Be honest with yourself: is it you or is it them?