Emma Bunton, 45, reveals feeling 'unbalanced and anxious' before perimenopause diagnosis

She may be best known as 'Baby Spice' – but Emma Bunton has opened up about going through a very grown-up experience.

The singer, 45, revealed in a new interview how she was left in tears by the realisation that she had entered the perimenopause, the medical term for the stage before the menopause.

Speaking to the Daily Mail's You magazine, she recalled: "I started to feel unbalanced and anxious.

"At first I put it down to the pandemic. But then the anxiety became more regular, until it was daily. I was also lethargic. Something wasn’t right."

After speaking to friends who had endured similar symptoms, she got a second opinion over Zoom, and came to the conclusion that she was experiencing the condition, which often affects women in their mid-late 40s.

The perimenopause happens when levels of oestrogen change – causing irregular periods, mood changes, hot flushes and sleep problems.

As well as grappling with changes to her body, the mother-of-two also had to come to terms with the fact she may not be able to have a third child.

The Spice Girls band member said: "I cried my eyes out. I thought, 'Is this the end?' It’s been a very weird time. I’m a very mumsy person; when I see my friends’ babies I always become broody. But now I thought, 'OK, this is it.'"

Bunton believes that her mum was also "very young" when she went through the perimenopause too and had a "tough time" during the menopause, so she is now on a low dose of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medication to "balance out" her hormones.

Despite this, she still hopes that she and her partner Jade Jones, the 42-year-old lead singer of band Damage, can have another child.

The couple, who have been together since 2004, are currently parents to son Beau, 13, and 10-year-old son Tate.

She said: "We still talk about it, but it makes me nervous...If it happens, of course, it would be amazing."