celebrity

Phoebe Burgess says she's living a 'post-sex' life. Here's why.

Phoebe Burges is living a post-sex life. And she's loving it. 

In a recent episode of her podcast Under the Gloss, Phoebe spoke with author/writer Nikki Gemmell about being on "dry land" regarding sex and dating.

"Well, I got divorced in 2019. It was a good year for me. And yeah, no, I haven't [had sex since]," Phoebe began.

"I haven't had sex in three-and-a-half, nearly four years. And I'm not ready to risk that freedom. I'm 33. But sort of missing sex has gone missing from my life. I've deeply associated that [lack of sex] with a sense of freedom."

It's a 'post-sex' stage that so many women can attest to. Some experience it coming out of challenging long-term relationships, while others still in a partnership begin to feel less and less attached to sex.

Watch: 3 dating challenges after divorce. Post continues below.


Video via YouTube.

The media personality and podcast host split from her husband, former NRL player-turned-coach Sam Burgess in 2019.

The pair share two kids together, daughter Poppy and son Billy. Now a single mum, Burgess has said she's finally figured out her sense of self again.

"I found a little bit of myself, again, I've clawed back pieces of me. But also to try to build someone new that I'm proud of, that my kids can be proud of," she said previously on Mamamia's No Filter podcast. 

ADVERTISEMENT

When it comes to dating, Burgess said on her own podcast this week that's she's "not ready to give that up", referring to her newfound freedom.

"I've been a serial monogamist my whole life," she noted.

"No caption could capture the honesty, brilliance and breadth of conversation I had with Nikki Gemmell," Burgess said about their chat in an Instagram post.

Gemmell was recently on Mamamia's No Filter podcast and spoke about her own journey of living a post-sex life. 

She described it as a phase in which motherhood and menopause are beginning to overlap. 

"It's like this steamroller that has hit me and completely wiped my confidence, my sexual confidence, my energy, my metabolism. We [her husband and her] deeply, deeply love each other. But we find our intimacy and our connection in other ways now, besides sex," Gemmell explained.

Listen to Nikki Gemmell on No Filter. Post continues after audio.


And when Gemmell recently wrote a column on this very topic, the response was "huge" — with countless women sharing stories of reshaping their relationships around their new, post-sexual identities.

It's something Burgess said she connected with too and is now embracing.

"It's funny, isn't it? How we get like smacked over the head with a label. You're perimenopause. I'm divorced, bitter ex-wife. And it's these roles that we kind of have to assume. We are both sexless women," she said on Under the Gloss.

"I'm giving in. I will, I will happily inhabit that space for everyone else out there."

Feature Image: Instagram @mrsphoebeburgess.

As one of our readers we want to hear from you! Complete this survey now to go in the running to win one of five $100 gift vouchers.
00:00 / ???