TV personality Melanie Sykes has revealed plans to hire security guards after feeling unsafe when out alone.
The 54-year-old star explained on her YouTube channel that she now requires protection due to unwanted attention from strangers, particularly men.
Sykes, who is best known for co-hosting Today with Des and Mel in the early 2000s and Let’s Do Lunch with Gino D’Acampo, said the issue has become more apparent in recent months.
The mother-of-two, who has largely retreated from her broadcast career in recent years, told followers she feels particularly vulnerable when recognised in public.
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Speaking on her YouTube channel, Sykes explained: “When you are married and you’re out and about, or you are with a man, people don’t bother you and ask inappropriate questions. They speak to the bloke, and I have had that a million times.”
Yet, she revealed she now finds things very different – adding that she cannot even walk her dog alone safely.
“Still I can’t go on big long walks on my own with my dog. It’s just not possible for me as a single woman. I wouldn’t do it,” she revealed.
The TV star described how quickly situations can escalate when she rejects unwanted approaches.
“You’re immediately in danger because you’ve crossed a barrier.
“I need a security detail when I go somewhere. It’s something I’ve suddenly realised in the past six months is what I need,” she explained.
Sykes was candid about her preference for hired security over romantic relationships.
“I don’t have nor want a partner. You’d have to be someone pretty f***ing extraordinary for me to even notice you,” she stated.
The 54-year-old added with characteristic humour: “I’d rather pay for somebody to have my back…It’s cheaper than most partners I’ve had. It’s a necessity, it really is.”
“Some people have their partners. I don’t have nor want a partner. My life is so fulfilled,” she declared.
Sykes has been married twice. Her first marriage was to actor Daniel Caltagirone in 2001, with whom she has two sons, Roman, 23, and Valentino, 21, before they divorced in 2009.
In 2013, at age 42, she married roofer Jack Cockings, who was 27, after meeting on Twitter. Their marriage ended after just seven months.
In 2022, Sykes ended her romance with gondolier Riccardo Simionato, whom she met in Venice when she was 50 and he was 22.
The Lancashire-born star quit television in 2021 and was later diagnosed with autism, which she described as having “changed my life for the better”.