Natasha Hamilton said early perimenopause and a thyroid autoimmune condition left her feeling “insecure and embarrassed”.
Natasha Hamilton felt “insecure and embarrassed” after going through early perimenopause and being diagnosed with a thyroid-attacking autoimmune condition.
The 43-year-old singer left Atomic Kitten in 2004, and later that year, she went on to welcome her son, Harry, 21, into the world on New Year’s Eve.
But following his birth, Natasha battled postnatal depression.
She said, “It wasn’t the way I ever saw my career going. For it to end as bad as it did, it was so sad. And it just left such a horrible feeling in my body that I couldn’t really talk about it.”
Natasha is also mom to Josh, 23, Alfie, 15, and Ella, 11, from previous relationships, and she has a two-year-old daughter named Kitty with her husband, Charles Gay.
A year ago, the Whole Again hitmaker felt she was “falling apart” as the star suffered with early perimenopause, but Natasha managed to feel better after she started Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
Natasha said: “I started taking HRT about 12 months ago. Before that, I was falling apart. I had no confidence. I was almost sabotaging all the hard work I’d been putting into releasing new music as an independent artist. I just lost all confidence in myself. I was indecisive and scared.
“And I’m like, ‘This is not me.'”
Her worst moment came six months after Kitty’s birth in August 2023, when she filmed a pop video while suffering from thyroid chaos and perimenopause.
Natasha said: “I felt most insecure when I came back to music, and the baby must’ve been about six months old. I was bigger than I’d ever been, especially on camera.
“I remember looking in the mirror and saying, ‘Step into your power. You were a young, thin pop star, but that’s not you now. You’ve just had your fifth kid. You’ve been through life, you’ve had your battles and you look f****** great. So what if you have cellulite?’
“I spent years in an industry that took chunks out of young women, out of me. And I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna now do that to myself.’ I love myself more than that.”
However, the Tide is High singer is still on a “journey” in dealing with the changes after childbirth and learning to manage Hashimoto’s disease.
Natasha explained: “I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid and causes hypothyroidism, meaning my thyroid was underactive and not producing enough hormones to regulate my metabolism, energy and mood.
“So the version of Natasha now is not what it was pre-Kitty.”
The Eternal Flame performer recalled how she did not recognise herself and how painful it was for Natasha to get out of bed.
She remembered: “I’d put my feet on the floor and every bone in my feet, in my shins, everything was … I was in so much pain. Honestly, it was awful.”
After Kitty’s birth, Natasha said her “recall was so slow” and that she “couldn’t find the right words”.
She added: “I started to feel insecure and embarrassed.”
Natasha Hamilton felt ‘insecure and embarrassed’ during health struggles
