She’s become renowned for being a “glam gran” with her tanned and toned curves since rising to fame alongside her daughters Sam and Billie Faiers, but Suzie Wells admits she barely recognises herself since going through the menopause. The 52-year-old star recently broke down in tears as she opened up on ITVBE’s Family Diaries show where she appears alongside Billie, husband Greg and their children, Nelly, eight, and Arthur, five, after admitting she’s struggled to cope with her symptoms.
“I should feel on top of the world, I’ve got five healthy grandchildren, with another on the way, but menopause has knocked me,” Suzie, 52, tells Closer. “I’ve never suffered with anxiety, but now I get nervous while driving on the motorway whereas as I always used to feel confident. The biggest symptom for me is sleep deprivation. I’ll go to sleep at 10pm, wake up at midnight, watch TV, fall asleep again at 3am, and then I’m up for the day at 6am. You feel rubbish the next day, end up napping and it’s an ongoing cycle.”
And while she often turns heads with her sensational figure, Suzie admits her self-esteem has taken a hit too. “Now when I’m in a bikini on holiday I feel as though I have to wrap up my stomach. I’ve always been slim, but the weight falls around my middle, even though I’m just as active and still run around after my grandchildren. You do get moments where you just don’t feel attractive.”
But the star says daughters Sam, 31, and Billie, 32, always reassure her. “The girls will always tell me I look gorgeous. At the beginning, they spoke among themselves when they could tell I wasn’t ‘me.’ They encouraged me to speak to a doctor and go on HRT, Billie recently went with me to see a specialist and now I’m on progesterone. I talk about it openly with my girls because you shouldn’t suffer in silence. Billie said to me, ‘It’s good we’re learning about it mum, so we’ll know what to expect when it happens to us.’
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Sam hit the headlines after long-time pal Ferne McCann was accused of fat-shaming her in a leaked voice note. While Suzie declines to comment on the ongoing feud, she admits she’s “proud” of her daughters for not letting fame get the better of them. “I know everyone says it about their kids, but my girls are great mothers and providers. They work hard, are grounded, and don’t take anything for granted. They don’t have nannies or cooks, though they could probably do with them,” she laughs.
She adds, “It helps that Greg and Paul [Knightley, Sam’s partner of eight years] are hands on and aren’t afraid to help out. My girls know the fans have got them to where they are, and ever since TOWIE, they’ve always been polite if anyone’s asked them for a picture. They’re not horrible girls, they’re good, kind, and humble ladies."
Meanwhile, Suzie’s made no secret of the fact her daughters would love for her to settle down after being single for a few years, and she admits she’s looking.
“Dating is a struggle,” she says. “I had one date recently; he was a lovely guy but wasn’t for me. I don’t know whether I’d want to get married, but I’d never say never if someone swept me off my feet. I’d love to go on dates, but I never really find anyone. I’ve tried a couple of dating apps, but they haven’t worked for me, and I much prefer meeting people through friends. The girls do say, ‘Mum, you’ve got to get out there’ and they’d love to see me with someone. I’m moving house in a couple of weeks, and I’ve promised them that once I’m settled, I’ll get myself back out there and see what becomes of my dating life.”
In 2018, Suzie was jokingly nicknamed “Snogging Sue” after she was caught kissing a man in the sea during Billie’s hen-do in Ibiza, and she says she still gets attention from younger men. “It really is harder in your fifties because it’s one extreme or the other. I meet some men my age with grown-up kids, but they tend to go for younger ladies. Then I’ve had men slide into my DMs who are Greg’s age, and I’m old enough to have given birth to them. My friends say, ‘Just go out with them for a laugh!’ But I just want someone, kind and family orientated, I don’t care if they’re not in the public eye.”
● Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries airs weekly on Wednesdays at 9pm on ITVBe, watch all episodes from the series so far on ITV Hub