Kate Garraway has revealed that a health scare prompted her to embark on a two-week sex experiment with her husband.

The ITV presenter said she went on a mission to learn about health and wellness as she turned 50, which led to her taking on a physical challenge with her husband.

She told Loose Women she was prompted to learn more about living well after a medical issue.

She said: “I had incredible pains in my chest and was rushed to hospital.

“Thankfully, it wasn’t anything serious.

“I had just pulled cartilages in my rib cage but it was really painful and the doctor looked at it and said: ‘At your time of life you’ve got to start being more careful’ and it started a whole process of thinking about what turning 50 meant.

“Even with the best will in the world I’ve got fewer days left than I’ve lived.

“So I went on a massive exploration talking to some amazing men and women who show being 50 is a gift because many people don’t get a chance to turn 50.

“Sex is extraordinarily good for you, if you have two orgasms a week it slashes your heart rate tremendously.

“This is fact. It changes the cellular structure of your skin, you can look much younger because of it – it makes you feel good, it makes your brain work.

“I read all this and now I feel like sex is a plate of curly kale. I don’t want to do it any more, you want it to be sexy.”

Kate added that she decided to take on a sex challenge after learning about it from a friend.

She said: “A friend of mine said she and her husband did the two-week sex experiment where they had sex every day for 14 days. It becomes part of your life.

“I said to my husband we are going to do the two-week sex experiment and he said ‘does that mean I have to have sex every two weeks?’ and I said ‘every day for two weeks’ and then he said ‘who with?’”