Gary Neville’s wife Emma reveals she has trained as a counsellor and is launching an online community after her ‘lonely and scary’ journey through early menopause
Gary Neville’s wife Emma reveals that after her ‘lonely and terrifying’ journey through early menopause aged 41, she trained as a specialist trainer and launched an online community.
Now a menopause consultant, Neville, 41, launched her Instagram support page, emmanevillethisisme, on Wednesday and already has 5,000 followers – including her footballer husband.
VAG, who has never joined the antics of other footballers’ wives, addressed her new followers in a video and said: ‘I was 41 when I faced early menopause.
“I wasn’t ready, prepared or had any knowledge of how to support myself.” The journey was lonely and scary and I knew something had to change.
“If I had the tools I have now, my journey would have been very different.
New career: Gary Neville’s wife Emma reveals she trained as a specialist trainer and launched an online community after her ‘lonely and terrifying’ journey through early menopause aged 41
“This is me is a space for women to feel understood, celebrated and supported on their journey to well-being.” It’s a resource I wish I had as I go through my experience.’
The mother-of-two qualified as a counselor in 2019, but previously didn’t reveal why she started the venture.
But earlier this year she said: “I’m not ashamed to say, I’m now fully through menopause.”
The shock of going through early menopause empowered her to help other women.
Her online community has been met with an outpouring of support with followers of the page calling her a “heroine”.
This is Me Instagram account – the only form of public social media Mrs Neville is on – despite her husband’s high profile.
The couple met in 2004 when she was working as a sales assistant in Manchester with the former England footballer who proposed three years later in Malta.
Until recently, the Nevilles lived in a £3million mansion in Bolton with their two teenage daughters, Molly and Sophie.
While her husband, a former Manchester United star, continued to earn more than £1 million a year for his financial work with SkySport, Mrs Neville has until now kept a low profile as a philanthropist.
For four years, Ms Neville has volunteered as a counselor at the Buri Cancer Support Centre, proving that she differs from the common perception of Vags.
She joins other celebrities in the effort to raise awareness of menopause, including Davina McCall, Lorraine Kelly and Meg Matthews – the ex-wife of Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher.