Drew Barrymore Had Her First Hot Flash On TV Next To Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler

Drew Barrymore is at a very particular stage in the life of a woman. She is 48 years old, the age when many women start to experience what people referred to for years as “the change of life” but now we can actually just call it perimenopause. Now we are not just making assumptions about Barrymore potentially going through perimenopause. We were able to watch it happen on air when she experienced her very first hot flash while filming her talk show. That’s one for the scrapbook.

Barrymore was interviewing Jennifer Aniston and their shared longtime friend and co-star Adam Sandler on her talk show when she started to sweat. “I’m so hot,” she told Aniston and Sandler. “I think I’m having one of my first perimenopausal hot flashes.”

She wasn’t kidding either, as Barrymore took off her jacket and looked decidedly shiny. “For the first time, I think I’m having my first hot flash,” Barrymore said. Aniston, good friend that she is, leaned in to help Barrymore adjust her microphone as she fanned herself and said, “I feel so honored.”

Barrymore apologized and said to Aniston, “Do you feel that?” as she laid a hand on her neck, and Aniston agreed she was warm. Sandler, not wanting to be left out of the special moment in his friend’s life, reached out for her hand and said, “That’s a warm hand.” Barrymore, who responded with just the slightest dry edge to her voice, “That’s good, because if it was cold, that would be worrisome.” Because let’s be honest here; Sandler doesn’t really have a horse in the menopause race now, does he?

Sandler tried again when Barrymore said, “I’m so glad I have this moment documented,” by pointing out that she might suddenly have a fit of an “angry mood swing, maybe you can bring that out now too.” Her look said it all, but don’t worry. They seemed like they were joking.

All joking aside, Barrymore’s decision to talk so openly about hot flashes was met with praise on Instagram. “Thank you for helping to normalize talking openly about perimenopause and menopause!” wrote one user, while another added, “When your body decides to evolve on TV. A historic moment.”

The Ever After star has long been adored for being candid about things few people might want to talk about, like her resistance to dating as a single mom of two and her struggles with sobriety. Why should hot flashes be any different? If anything, I hope perimenopause encourages her to open up even more. We need it.