Menopause was driving comedian and TV presenter Julia Morris nuts: “Nuts, I tell you!” She can laugh about it now, but 18 months ago, she felt absolutely overwhelmed.
“I was trying to be best mumma, best comedian, best colleague, best everything,” says Julia, who admits menopause wasn’t the only factor contributing to her anger.
“It was overload … and a little bit too much of the high-octane life.”
The “high-octane life” took hold when Julia first tried juggling two major TV projects simultaneously, playing Gemma Crabb in the drama series House Husbands and hosting Australia’s Got Talent, back in 2013. Two years later, she added I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here to the mix.
These days, however, she couldn’t be more relaxed. So where did this new happy-go-lucky Julia Morris come from?
On the advice of a friend, she turned to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a results-driven school of psychotherapy that helps change habitual thought patterns and behaviour. “It saved me,” she says “It was a very quick turnaround from fury to being so much happier.”
The therapy also clocked in just in time to help Julia keep her cool in the face of allegations that her flirtation with I’m A Celebrity co-host, Dr Chris Brown, was sexual harassment.
“There were comparisons made with the young woman [sports reporter Mel McLaughlin], who was hassled by the pervy cricketer [Chris Gayle],” Julia says, aghast. “How can you draw a comparison? Dr Chris doesn’t feel put upon, he’s not scared, I don’t touch him inappropriately and I’m not in his space. He is a big, strong, smart man and I feel like I treat him with nothing but respect.”
To read more of this exclusive chat with Julia Morris, pick up the February issue of The Weekly at your local newsagency or visit Magshop to get your copy.
