Drew Barrymore had to pause a segment of “The Drew Barrymore Show” so she could fan herself down while she experienced a hot flash.
A recent episode of the daytime talk show kicked off by showing Barrymore’s co-stars Ross Mathews and Valerie Bertinelli laughing as they helped fan her down as a segment about food expiration labels with Danny Seo was just about to begin.
As Barrymore removed her plaid jacket, Mathews told viewers, “We’re fanning Drew down because — “
“I’m experiencing a hot flash. It’s happening again. God, it’s so hot,” Barrymore interjected.
“Oh my God, it’s like a hot blanket,” Bertinelli, 64, noted as she took Barrymore’s jacket from her.
“Like a thermos,” Mathews, 45, added.
A hot flash is a sudden warm feeling typically felt around the face, neck and chest that can happen to women around the time of menopause, according to the Mayo Clinic. Hot flashes can also cause blotchy skin, a faster heartbeat, anxiety and other symptoms.
“It’s just so weird that they come out of nowhere, you know?” Barrymore said. “I’m so lightheaded right now.”
Mathews then encouraged members of the studio audience to help fan Barrymore so she could cool down.
“I wish I could just start taking my clothes off, but that would get weird,” the host joked.
Barrymore then returned to her segment about food label expiration dates with Seo, joking, “I feel like I’m having an expiration date, physically, right now.”
She kept up her sense of humor throughout the segment. When Mathews mentioned food that’s kept in a refrigerator, Barrymore quipped, “A fridge, God, I’d love a fridge right now.”
It’s not the first time Barrymore has dealt with a hot flash on the air.
She experienced the first hot flash of her life while interviewing “Murder Mystery” franchise stars Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler on her show in March 2023.
“I’m so hot. I think I’m having one of my first perimenopause hot flashes,” a shocked Barrymore told Aniston and Sandler while removing her jacket.
“For the first time, I think I’m having my first hot flash!” she added.
“Oh, I’m so honored!” joked Aniston, who leaned in to adjust Barrymore’s clip-on microphone.
Barrymore apologized as Aniston caressed the back of her neck to soothe her.
“Do you feel this?” Barrymore asked, referring to her body’s suddenly rising temperature.
When Sandler mentioned that he believed that hot flashes bring on “heavy” mood swings, Barrymore jokingly glared at him.
“Here it is!” Sandler yelled, as the audience laughed.
Barrymore’s fans praised her for not cutting her hot flash out of the broadcast of her show.
“Thank you for helping to normalize talking openly about perimenopause and menopause,” wrote one.
“When your body decides to evolve on TV. An historic moment,” someone else commented.
