Ulrika Jonsson feels "alive" again after having sex for the first time in five years

She said: "This is a little story about triumph over pessimism. Success over despondency. But perhaps most crucially, it is about conquering fears and overcoming one’s own personal age discrimination and perception of body image. Yes folks, at the age of 52, after a marriage set against a barren sexual landscape and a five-year hiatus - I have had sex ... Out of nowhere (or out of social media, to be more precise), someone made an approach to me. And in a moment of absent-mindedness, when my guard was down because I could never have expected it, I could feel my mindset altering. It was as if I was starting to entertain the possibility of a new experience with someone. Instead of walking around feeling dead emotionally and sexually, I was able to take my mind back to the passionate person I once was."

And the 52-year-old star wants to tell other people it is "possible" to return to intimacy after a hiatus, even though it is "blighted by a lack of self-belief and hopelessness".

Writing for The Sun newspaper, she shared: "In the past, initiating sex for me had always been a vicious cycle of rejection and loss of confidence. But now that I have been rejuvenated and reminded about the importance of intimacy, I feel like I never want to let it go again.

"The fact remains that the less you 'do it', the harder it becomes. But getting back in the saddle is a tough ask. It is uphill and blighted by a lack of self-belief and hopelessness. But it is possible. And once you get there, it can give you an entirely new lease of life. It can confirm and restore the evidence that you are, in fact, very much alive."