Happy Valley and Corrie star Sarah Lancashire opens up on "terrible" menopause battle after NTAs triumph

Sarah Lancashire has opened up on her “terrible” battle with the menopause. 

The Oldham-born Happy Valley and Coronation Street star is fresh from being honoured at the National Television Awards. 

The 58-year-old won the special recognition prize at the NTAs and an award for her role as police sergeant Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley.  But now, speaking to the Mail on Sunday, she has revealed she is struggling with her memory and even needed a friend to help her battle the heat at the awards. 

“I’m having the most terrible menopause,” Lancashire said. “I’ve got brain fog.

“I was in Sainsbury’s the other day, and I found myself just stood there in the aisle and could not remember what I was there for. It just comes over you all of a sudden. I can’t remember things that happened 30 years ago either.”

She added: “I brought one of my closest friends with me (to the NTAs) and his job was to keep an eye out for the cameras and if it looked like they were going to pan across to us, then he’d let me know so I could hide them.” 

Lancashire’s remarkable screen career saw her play Raquel Watts for more than 500 episodes on the Corrie cobbles, before more than a decade later starring in two huge Sally Wainwright hits - Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley.