Ulrika Jonsson, 57, passionately hits back at ageist comments after being trolled for podcast appearance: 'Making people feel s**t doesn't make you a hero!'

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

Ulrika Jonsson hit back at ageist comments in an impassioned new Instagram post on Sunday.
The television presenter and former model, 57, revealed she had been trolled with 'nasty comments' after appearing on Spencer Matthews ' recent Untapped Podcast which is filmed as well as recorded.
She explained in her post that many had commented that she looked 'over-tanned, imperfect and was ageing'.
But Ulrika pointed out that it's tiresome people constantly judge a women's appearance.
She said in her post alongside a selfie: 'I feel I need to address something. I don't get a lot of nasty comments - or if I do, I don't see them or send people love in response.
'But a couple of weeks ago I took part in a fab podcast @untapped.podcast to discuss my sobriety with the smart @spencermatthews.
Seen in the year 2000
'I wore no make-up. Partly because I kinda forgot that a project for the ears is nowadays also a feast for the eyes. But as someone who has had to wear heavy make-up on screen from 5am for years, I'm not a fan.
'Most crucially tho, since childhood I've suffered from eczema. On my body - the creases of my arms and legs - on my face - eyes and lips. Make-up has always been the enemy because it's been agony to wear.
'There were a lot of positive comments about the WORDS I said on the podcast. But a considerable amount about my tanned appearance.
'AND how OLD I look. In a few weeks I will be 58. I will never look like the fresh 21yr old that used to greet you first thing in the morning by the weather board.
'I'm not ashamed to say that I am a sun worshipper and will no doubt pay the price for that. But UV lamps and salt baths, astringent solutions and creams were a feature of my life since I was a small child. I have uneven pigmentation doubtlessly not helped by ageing. I sometimes use filters in my pics because it's easier than foundation and less painful.
'I work tirelessly in my garden year round and often in the sun. I rarely sunbathe any more. Haven't had a sun bed for 6 months - which I do occasionally in winter months. Not ashamed.
'I have not had a holiday - of any kind - since 2018. That's 7yrs. So, I understand that an over-tanned, imperfect and AGEING face offends you. But try to listen to the words rather than constantly judge women's appearance. You might learn something. And making people feel s**t doesn't make you a hero.'
On the podcast with Spencer she opened up about how sex has become 'interesting' since she stopped drinking alcohol 13 months ago - because it's harder to get into but more enjoyable having it while sober.
The recovering alcoholic also said she's convinced she'll never touch a drop of alcohol again in her life, as she's finally finding nothing attractive about the thought of drinking booze.
Former Gladiators star Ulrika, who is determined to keep up her average three AA meetings a week, also said that whereas previously she thought she was a failure with a miserable life, she's now at peace with herself and sends a daily gratitude list to a friend.
When it comes to sex, Ulrika - who is single - said she wants a lot more, but she admitted she finds men less attractive when sober, and it's harder to end up in bed with someone - but she said when she does it is a better experience.
Asked by Spencer on his Untapped podcast if she thought being sober was going to have a negative effect on her sex life, she said: 'Yeah - although I kind of knew that sex sober would be better.
'But of course all your inhibitions go when you've had a drink, so sex becomes easier to sort of facilitate or bring about, or participate in, but the enjoyment side of things is very different when you're sober.
'So that's been quite interesting too.
'I would never have had a date without having one drink. That's the lubricant. That's the social lubricant you just need to ease yourself into a date.'
She continued 'not having a drink and going on a date, it's hard - it's really hard because people are not as attractive,' before adding about herself after drink 'you just become a little bit more available I guess - it is easier.'
The blonde beauty said that after struggling on the first anniversary of her sobriety last month, she's now confident it will continue for good.
She said: 'I really struggled around the anniversary of my sobriety, because everyone was like 'Well done'. This is like the rest of my life.
'I believe that I will never drink again.'
Ulrika thinks she might possibly be able to have just one drink now and not return to her bad ways, but she does not intend taking the risk of that not being the case.
She said: 'I do not want to take the risk.
'There's every chance that I could have a glass of wine today but then when the shit hits the fan again is that going to be my default setting that I go back to that.
'At the moment, the way I feel now just over a year on, is the very thought of drinking rum or something because something has gone bad makes me feel sick. I don't want to.
'But at the beginning when I'd go out for a Sunday lunch, a roast of whatever, and people are sitting there with their glasses of red, I'd be 'that would be so nice'.
'So my belief is that this is forever.
'I couldn't think like that at the beginning.
'At the beginning you're going 24 hours, 48 hours, I've done a week, I've done a month. 'That's why I think coming up to a year was a bit disappointing - because it was like 'this goes on and bloody on, this sobriety'.'
And Ulrika says as well as not being drunk her whole opinion of herself and her life has now changed.
She said: 'What a massive change it's made for me as a person, as a being. My mindset, my approach has completely changed.
'I thought I wasn't very good at life, I wasn't cut out for it, and I was just a pretty average to rubbish person.
'I'm tapping maybe into the person that was there, that I didn't think existed.
'I thought I was shit. My opinion of myself was never very high. More in a self-deprecating way.
'I always felt below, and I don't feel that any more.
'I didn't think I'd get to this age. My dad died very suddenly when he was 53. Pensions and all that I was 'don't worry about that, I'll be dead before then'. I always say that to the kids and they'd say 'Mum, stop saying that', 'I definitely won't be here'.
'And now suddenly finding a new desire to live and finding out new things about myself and what I'm capable of and my strengths.
'I still want to have a lot of sex, and I want to have a lot of fun. The kids can wipe their own arses now so I can be free to do my own thing.
'And now wanting to catch up on the years of negative thinking that I lost, of sort of having a negative view of myself.
'I was also really f***ing angry when I was drinking. I was angry about everything. I was angry about what was happening to me, what someone was trying to do in terms of my life, that I was trying to find a solution to
'You look at other people's lives and think 'f**k you with your perfect life', and 'f**k my life'.
'Now I start the morning with a gratitude list and it changes the whole face of everything.
'I actually send it to a person who I know.
'You always find something and having done that you're just like 'You know what...' - whereas before I might have started the day 'Oh my God, look at the bloody brush dropped on the floor'.'
Ulrika, who said she has had therapy on and off for 30 years, said she might have been able to stop drinking temporarily in the past, but it would not have lasted - because she had to reach a stage first where she was also more content with herself and understood her behaviour.
She said: 'I could definitely stop drinking, but would I be able to keep off that without learning about myself, like cleansing myself emotionally - learning about why I'm doing things
The mum of four children, Cameron, 30, Bo 25, Martha, 20, and Malcolm, 17, added: 'For me now sobriety is my priority, even though I used to say 'Oh my children are my priority'
'I think that that, in tandem with giving up the drink, has been crucial for me.
'My behaviour has changed so much, but I've found this inner peace.'
Ulrika said regularly meeting with others in her situation had helped her achieve that.
She said: 'I rely on a support group and I probably do about three meetings a week. 'Sometimes I go to one and do a couple online.
'I've been quite religious about attending them. Christmas Day I attended a meeting, Easter Sunday, just to get away from people who were drunk.'
The mum of four children, Cameron, 30, Bo 25, Martha, 20, and Malcolm, 17, added: 'For me now sobriety is my priority, even though I used to say 'Oh my children are my priority'.
'Without my sobriety I can't be there for my children, or something awful might happen, or whatever else.'