Jenny Eclair has admitted she found motherhood ‘traumatising’ and was ‘shocked’ to discover she wasn’t as maternal as she thought.
The comedian, 64, welcomed her daughter Phoebe Powell into the world in 1990 during the height of her career success.
The TV star candidly admitted she was always ‘needy’ for fame and her sense of her own ‘status’ was connected to how successful she was.
Speaking on Kaye Adams’ How To Be 60 podcast, she said: ‘I presumed I’d be more maternal than I was, I was massively shocked by it. Motherhood is traumatising.
‘I felt very much that I needed to get up that ladder, because I’m very guilty of all my status being wound up in my work; who I am is what I do. It’s how much work I have, how much money I earn.
Jenny Eclair has admitted she found motherhood ‘traumatising’ and was ‘shocked’ to discover she wasn’t as maternal as she thought
The comedian, 64, welcomed her daughter Phoebe Powell into the world in 1990 during the height of her career success (pictured together in 2012)
‘When you’re bringing up children, they’re quite needy. I relied a lot on other people doing my job and I’ve never regretted that really.
‘Physically women are at such a disadvantage, because you can only have babies in a certain window. Most of us have between 25 and 35 to ensnare a bloke, get pregnant and have a baby.’
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Jenny also hit out at sexism in the comedy industry, saying she feels female comics have to work harder to get the same recongition as their male counterparts.
She said: ‘I wanted to be famous. I was very needy for fame. I still am, I’m furious that I haven’t got exactly what I wanted out of it, but I don’t know whether I’ve got the puff left to fight much more,’ she told Kaye Adams on her How to be 60 podcast.
‘It’s being confronted by how hard as women in this industry we have to work, for not getting the same kind of rewards. I don’t have a gravel drive; I don’t have the big stuff. I live on a main road outside a bus stop.
‘I’m not living in a shoebox, but I sometimes think that a huge amount of effort went into this and there have been rewards, but there have been other people who got away with a lot less and earned a lot more.’
The Grumpy Old Women star has also appeard on a number of reality shows including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Splash and Celebrity MasterChef.
In addition, she has written a number of novels and also co-hosts the Older and Wider Podcast.
The TV star candidly admitted she was always ‘needy’ for fame and her sense of her own ‘status’ was connected to how successful she was
Despite her long list of achievements, the star told Kaye Adams that she was no longer as ambitious as she used to be
Despite her career success, Jenny admitted she is no longer as ambitious as she used to be. ‘I’m not prepared to flog myself to death for it anymore, I’m not prepared to apologise and compromise,’ she explained.
She said that the birth of her grandson Arlo two years ago had helped change her attitude. ‘I didn’t think I’d like him as much as I do, it kind of takes you aback a bit.
‘I’m a slave to him. I get a huge amount of joy out of him, he’s the light of my life, I’m besotted. There’s nothing quite like a little sticky hand in yours.
‘As soon as I dipped my toes in the waters of motherhood, I retreated screaming, I thought it was really hard work and really very boring, but I don’t find it boring with Arlo at all.
‘Maybe because I’ve slowed down. Because I’ve worked so hard and I feel like I’m justified in having this time with him.’