KAREN Barber has maintained a cool head in her career as a professional skater and a judge on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice. But away from the limelight, she’s had a challenging couple of years.

In 2010, her 21-year marriage ended, and she established a relationship with skating legend Christopher Dean. He is separated from his second wife, American skater Jill Trenary, with whom he has two sons.

Looking slim, toned and radiant, Barber, aged 51, says she’s happy and settled in her relationship with Dean, but reveals that secretly she’s also had to deal with feeling the heat in a more personal way.

The onset of her menopause brought with it hot flushes, which affect three in four women, accompanied by red, blotchy skin, and a racing heart for between four to 10 minutes.

“I was totally unaware what was happening to me at first,” says Barber.

“I didn’t have a clue that hot flushes would that bad – it really came as a shock.

“For a while I wrongly blamed other things such as my duvet being too thick or getting stressed, but when I started having them in the day as well as the night, I realised I was actually having hot flushes.”

The causes of hot flushes are largely unknown. One theory is that changes in hormone levels, especially falling levels of oestrogen, derail the body’s temperature-regulation system.

Dealing with the emotional and physical upheaval was an added strain for Barber when she was in the early months of her relationship with Dean, whom she had known as a friend for 30 years.

“As well as impacting on you professionally, it affects your personal relationships.

“You’re emotional, it affects your stability, you’re very teary, and it starts to affect your confidence, so it goes across the board,” says Barber, a mother of two daughters, Laura, 20, and Emma, 22, from her marriage to Dancing on Ice coach Stephen Pickavance.

“When you hear other women talk about them, you assume it’s just like feeling a little warm, but it’s far worse than that.

“I could just about cope in the day, even though it is distracting and you become paranoid about looking bright red.

“But the night sweats were the worst.I was waking up about four times a night. They break your sleep pattern – it’s similar to the sleep deprivation you experience when you’ve got a baby.

“It’s not a good feeling when you start the day tired, especially when you know the day in front of you is a good 10 to 12 hours long.”

To combat flushes, a doctor may prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which compensates for the shortfall in oestrogen.

Many women have opted not to take this option because of some reports linking HRT to an increased risk of strokes and breast cancer.

“I went to see my GP about my symptoms and decided HRT wasn’t for me. But thanks to a herbal-based natural supplement, Promensil,I feelI’m getting my menopausal symptoms under control.

“The annoying thing is that it took me so long to sort this out because no one talks about the menopause.

“All too often, we’re embarrassed to be open about it and discuss the problems it brings.”

Barber, a former Olympic skater, has returned to the judging panel of Dancing on Ice this year after a break of two years while she acted as head coach on the series.

She’s on the panel with Jason Gardiner, with whom she has a famously spiky relationship, as well as head judge Robin Cousins and former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts.

They will decide who of the remaining four celebrities, Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle, Olympic boxer Luke Campbell, former Wales rugby player Gareth Thomas and former EastEnders actor Matt Lapinskas, will reach the final on March 10.

“The contestants have been so strong this year.It’s wonderful to see them trying so hard and battling it out,” she says.

Barber fought and won her own battle against her weight, losing two-and-a-half stone over the last two years, and is now about 8st.

“After I had my second daughter, I slipped into thinking, ‘I’m happy with my weight, it doesn’t matter if I’m a bit bigger than I want to be’.

“Secretly,I knew I was unhappy with my weight and my body, but it was all about facing up to it.

“Although Ilove fashion and dressing up, for many years I confined myself to black trousers and jackets and missed out on having fun with clothes.”

On the advice of Dancing on Ice mentor Jayne Torvill, she follows the Hay Diet, where carbohydrates and protein are never eaten together at meals.

“It’s the best diet I’ve been on and it is so easy.I also eat less and avoid bread as it doesn’t agree with me.Incorporating more exercise into my life has helped as well.I never use the car for a journey of less than a mile; use the stairs, not the lifts; try to walk for at least an hour a day; and swim when I can,”

she says.

“It’s taken me a while, but it’s been worth it, and now I can wear whatever clothes Ilike and enjoy looking good again.

“My advice if you’re dieting is not to get discouraged at small lapses, and to wear clothes which are too tight sometimes, rather than opting for looser ones, to remind yourself of your goal.”

She also had cosmetic surgery.

“After a lot of consideration following my weight loss,I had surgery on my breasts. They were affecting the shape of my body and it was something that was right for me.”

Confident, fulfilled in her career and her personal life, and clearly looking forward to the future, she is coy about any plans for marriage with Dean.

“My idea of a happy and successful relationship is finding a person with whom it’s not a relationship as such – instead it’s a long conversation.

“It’s wanting to speak to that person in the years to come, and it’s about contentment.

“AllI can say is my girls, Chris, my friends and enjoying my work make me happy.”

Å Promensil Double Strength, £25.52 for 30 tablets, available from Boots, Ocado, Amazon, chemists and health food shops.

For more information, call 01403 280860 or visit promensil.co.uk.