TV's Ruth: I struggled with menopause's mood swings

GAVIN and Stacey creator Ruth Jones has revealed she found the menopause really difficult during the latter years of her marriage.

- By Mark Jefferies

GAVIN and Stacey creator Ruth Jones has revealed she found the menopause really difficult during the latter years of her marriage.

The writer and actress, 58, admitted to mood swings that left her “weeping down the phone” to friends.

Earlier this week she announced she and her producer husband David Peet, 71, had split after 26 years together. They legally separated 18 months ago, she said, and he has since moved to Canada, where he has a new partner.

While Ruth did not directly blame the menopause for their break-up, she told a literary event she found it very hard to cope with in her early 50s.

She added: “I think the menopause is a really strange experience to go through and I think, partly, I thought, ‘Oh, it won’t happen to me’.