Drew Barrymore just had her first menopausal hot flush live on air – and we're very here for it

Drew Barrymore had a rather iconic moment live on air this week - experiencing her very first hot flush while presenting her show, The Drew Barrymore Show.

Interviewing Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler about their new movie, Murder Mystery 2, she shared with the audience that she was feeling rather hot.

Hot flushes are a common symptom of menopause and often result in a woman feeling a sudden flare of heat, resulting in them sweating and looking and feeling flushed.

How Drew Barrymore dealt with a hot flush live on air is iconic

“I am so hot," Barrymore shared with her guests and audience. "I think I’m having my first perimenopause hot flush. For the first time!... Whoa!”

She promptly took off her blazer and started fanning herself.

When asked how she felt about it happening in front of her, Aniston replied: “Oh, I feel so honoured."

Barrymore reflected that she'd recently spoken on a panel about her own experience of menopause and that it was “crazy” that she'd now actually experienced her first hot flush live on TV.

“I’m so glad I have this moment documented,” she laughed.

Fans have been quick to praise the high profile actress for raising awareness about perimenopause, a common life stage that nearly every woman will go through.

Case in point: women spend around 40% of their lives in perimenopause or postmenopause, yet it's still widely under-discussed.

In the UK, celebrities including Davina McCall and Penny Lancaster have been candid about their own experiences, campaigning for better rights for women going through both perimenopause and menopause.

Barrymore, who's 48-year-old, also spoke to Gayle King about her own perimenopause journey earlier this year, reflecting on how she knew that's what was happening to her body.

“I realised that I was in perimenopause when I started having my period every two weeks,” Barrymore explained while appearing on the Facing Fertility series. “One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst-case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, I will never make it 10 years like this!”

“I’m just glad we’re even having this conversation because I had heard of menopause but I had never even heard of the phrase perimenopause until I went to the doctors,” King added.