Brooke Shields’ highly anticipated new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman ($21) officially debuted yesterday, and the 59-year-old actress isn’t holding back. Among her candid revelations, she opens up about how sex has evolved with age and the impact it’s had on her relationship with her longtime husband, Chris Henchy.
“I had a fervent sex drive when I was young, but I never felt like I could step into that appetite in the way that I wanted to,” she writes in the book. “Oh, how I wish I’d just let the lust take over!” Now, decades later, Shields admits the dynamic has changed. “And now here I am, more than thirty-five years later, sometimes pretending I’m asleep when I know Chris is in the mood. And that has nothing to do with Chris—he’s hot!”
“But, on a personal level, I’m in a place where sex can be painful,” she continues, revealing the cause as a vaginal tightening procedure performed without her consent during another treatment. “For me to fully enjoy sex at this point, I need my lotions and potions, the right sleepwear (maybe calling it sleepwear is contributing to the problem), my special pillow, and maybe a tequila so I can relax.”
When Shields shared the realities of her sex life with her doctor and mentioned she was “fine with it,” they stressed the importance of sex in a relationship and suggested steps like balancing her hormones. “My doctor told me I should start taking testosterone—sure you might get a few more whiskers, but that’s what tweezers are for—but I haven’t gotten there yet. For now, I’m counting on the old ‘the more you have it, the more you’ll enjoy it’ approach.”