Naomi Watts reveals surprising 'most romantic words' Billy Crudup ever said to her
Naomi Watts has revealed the "most romantic words" she has ever heard from her husband Billy Crudup - and it may surprise you to know they involve a rather private body part of his.
The Mulholland Drive star, 56, is releasing a book titled Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause on 23 January. In an extract published by The Times, Watts wrote candidly about the first time she and Crudup became intimately involved.
She opened up about feeling self-conscious because she wore hormone patches for the menopause. Hormone patches are adhesive patches that deliver hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which can treat menopause symptoms.
Watts recalled the moment she "ripped it off and scrubbed the skin raw" in an attempt to hide the fact she wore the patches from Crudup. When he asked her if she was OK, Watts said she couldn’t hold back her words.
She admitted to Crudup she didn’t want him to see her wearing the patches because it would mean she was "old" and that he "wouldn’t want [her]".
But Crudup reassured her by telling her that it was "great I was taking care of myself", adding that they were around the same age.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I’ve got grey hairs on my balls," Crudup said, according to Watts. These words made her "swoon", she added.
"Reader, that did make me feel better. Those to date remain the most romantic words I’ve ever heard, on screen or off, and that includes the script of every movie I’ve been in, and even this same man’s very loving marriage proposal, which came seven years later," Watts wrote.
"We were in it together, this ageing thing. I knew then that we could help each other deal with whatever happened… He was compassionate, not squeamish or awkward. That was a great gift. My hormone patches never got in the way of sex again."
Watts has spoken openly about beginning menopause at the age of 36, which she told People initially caused her to go "into a panic". The average age for UK women to reach menopause is 51, but it usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55.
In a previous interview with People, Watts said she had symptoms of menopause, such as night sweats, but her doctors "didn’t chalk that up to being anything other than stress or something" due to her young age.
Last year, she launched her own menopause wellness brand, Stripes Beauty, which aims to help women going through the same experiences. She said: "I know I had shame and fear and doubt. Chances are that a lot of other people are going through the same thing.
"I had a lot of anxiety in the lead up to creating this business, and then I just felt like, well, every woman is going to get to this point. Why are we not getting better care? There’s just a lack of education and research."
Watts and Crudup began dating in 2017, when they were both around 49 years old, and married in 2023. She was previously in a relationship with Liv Schreiber, with whom she shares two children. Crudup also has a child from a previous relationship with Mary-Louise Parker.
Read more about menopause:
The link between menopause and osteoporosis, as new drug approved (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
Davina McCall says women in their 50s can still enjoy orgasms (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
Women's viagra? New testosterone patch for menopause sex drive loss to start clinical trials (EuroNews, 2-min read)
