'The Louise Setting': Why Louise Minchin keeps the BBC Breakfast studio like an ice box

BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin has revealed that she keeps the show’s studio at freezer-like temperatures to help her cope with menopausal hot flushes.

Minchin is one of seven celebrities who have opened up about their experiences of the menopause to Hello! magazine, alongside Kay Burley, Trisha Goddard, Andrea McLean, Meg Mathews, Sharron Davies, and Liz Earle.

The news anchor shared: "The studio is really cold now – we have the ‘Louise’ setting on the air conditioning."

Minchin, 50, who is a keen triathlete, added: "I certainly feel better and stronger than I did in my 20s, 30s and 40s. I might have wrinkles, but I’ve got muscles."

Sky News anchor Burley agreed that she was comfortable talking about hot flushes in the newsroom, too.

Burley said: "I didn’t used to talk about it but the young boys in the office would get embarrassed and think, 'Why is she so hot and bothered?'

“Now I tell them: ‘Just having a power surge – it’ll be gone in a minute.'"

The 58-year-old added: "There is no better time in history for women of our age now."

Read more: The menopause timeline: What to expect from each stage

Chat show host Goddard, 60, went through the menopause 10 years ago at 50 as a result of the chemotherapy treatment she received for breast cancer.

She said she was enjoying this phase of her life: "I’m not scared to try new things and I’m glad I’ve kept my body strong.

“I hike, I rollerblade, run and don’t sweat the small stuff, and that’s a combination of age and giving thanks."

Activist and entrepreneur Mathews, 53, said that the menopause was an open subject in her home, but that her daughter Anais, whose father is Mathews’ ex Noel Gallagher, was now a little sick of talking about it.

She said: "My daughter Anais has heard non-stop about it and now rolls her eyes.

Read more: Louise Minchin mortified as phone goes off on live TV

"She’s like, ‘Oh God, here we go again, she’s off.'"

The full interview is in the latest edition of Hello! magazine, on sale from August 12.