Women have to work twice as hard as men to be considered half as good.

I remember a colleague in her 50s telling me this when I was an obnoxious 21-year-old starting out in an office.

I harrumphed and huffed and puffed; surely this wasn’t still true in the progressive 21st century?

But as I sit here thinking about all the mediocre men my friends and I had to report to in our 20s and 30s, and all the dazzlingly talented females I’ve seen ground down by sexism, parental leave policies and rigorously inflexible working hours, I realise she was exactly right.

And if you need proof that this saying is just as true in 2026 as it was when I first heard it, back in 2001, then may I present to you the case of Naga Munchetty.

Munchetty has been in the news this week because after 17 years at BBC Breakfast she’s leaving to host the flagship breakfast show on Radio 5 Live.

The move has raised eyebrows, because for some time now the 51-year old has been the subject of nasty rumours – most of which seemed to have started after a man called Richard Frediani took over as editor of BBC Breakfast in 2019.

Munchetty is said to have clashed with Frediani – nicknamed Fredi – from the get go.

After 17 years at BBC Breakfast, Naga Munchetty is leaving to host the flagship breakfast show on Radio 5 Live

Richard Frediani took over as editor of BBC Breakfast in 2019

She is alleged to have stood up for junior staff, who were apparently belittled and ‘trampled over’ by Frediani and his team, known at the programme as his ‘Boys Club’. One woman accused Frediani of physically shaking her during a newsroom exchange in 2024, and her grievance was formally upheld.

It was around the time the allegations about Frediani emerged that stories started appearing about Munchetty’s behaviour, including an allegation that she reprimanded an intern for the way they’d spread Marmite on her toast. So Munchetty, too, became the subject of a bullying probe. And though the BBC never shared any findings of wrongdoing after closing its investigation, she’s the one who is leaving BBC Breakfast – while also having to endure reports about how ‘feisty’ she is (which we all know is the special code used for a ‘woman who won’t pipe down and get back in her box’).

‘[Naga] was a far more interesting story than Fredi – he didn’t make headlines, she did,’ one insider told the Daily Mail’s Katie Hind. ‘Reams of headlines appeared making her out to be a total monster – but “scapegoat” is probably more accurate.’

This is a tale as old as time in the workplace. Indeed, it happened to me back in my 30s, when I had to work with a bloke who was a sleaze, a bully and completely useless at his job to boot.

Just one of these things would have the majority of women dismissed immediately, and rightly so. But when I complained that he wasn’t meeting even the most basic of work standards, I was accused by him of being ‘demanding and difficult’.

It’s so odd when women are reprimanded for behaving in a way that men are routinely rewarded for, isn’t it? Being a woman in the workplace is exhausting. We are paid less than men, and half of us will experience sexual harassment at some point (with four out of five feeling unable to raise the problem at work). As we get older, our opportunities for promotion become lower, with government data showing the economic inactivity rate for women aged 50 to 64 is far higher than it is for men.

At work, we must do the job assigned to us while also being the perfect woman. The requirements for this role are many and varied, and not up for discussion.

We should never complain, never shut down a mansplainer, never speak in an assertive manner unless we want to be accused of bullying. If we want a pay rise, or a cup of tea, we must apologise for our diva-like behaviour and promise it will never happen again. We must remember that if a man leaves early to attend a parent’s evening, he is to be treated like some sort of progressive king; if a woman does the same, the chances are she will be told off for not pulling her weight.

And if she doesn’t have children, she will be looked down on for prioritising her career. I think that just about covers it.

It’s ironic that Munchetty has spent so much of her career asking people to listen to women. For decades she was ignored by healthcare professionals when she complained of extreme period pain and vomiting that would cause her to pass out.

Three years ago, she was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition that causes the lining of the womb to grow into its outer muscle. Last year, she published a book on the women’s healthcare crisis and on Tuesday she dedicated a large portion of her current Radio 5 show to talking about premature menopause.

Working twice as hard, in double the pain? No wonder workplace ‘boys clubs’ feel so threatened by wonder women like Naga Munchetty.

My new sporting hero? ‘Sexy and aggressive’ Amy!  

Sprinter Amy Hunt, who won silver in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this week, described her sporting vibe last year as ‘sexy and aggressive’

The summer of sporting legends just gets better and better. Post-World Cup, my new obsession is sprinter Amy Hunt, who won silver in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this week.

Hunt, who is a Cambridge graduate, last year described her sporting vibe as ‘sexy and aggressive’. And on Tuesday she shrugged off losing three of her acrylic nails in the rain-drenched starting blocks.

Here’s hoping the 24-year old gets to battle it out with Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane for Sports Personality Of The Year. After all, she got a silver medal, while they only managed a bronze.

How H&M became high fashion

Hannah Waddingham’s surgeon boyfriend, Nicolas Beresford-Cleary, wearing an H&M blazer on the Hollywood red carpet this week

Kudos to Hannah Waddingham’s surgeon boyfriend, Nicolas Beresford-Cleary, for wearing an H&M blazer on the Hollywood red carpet this week. The high street shop is having a moment, with Vogue Australia’s editor launching a capsule collection there, featuring a £379.99 coat and a £229.99 pair of patent knee-high open-toe boots. God bless Hennes, as we used to call H&M when I was young – it’s clearly come a long way since I’d pop in to buy £1 vests as a teenager.

We are tiring of the light dishes usually favoured when hot weather comes about, according to Waitrose. ‘Feta fatigue’ – an aversion to salads – has set in, with the supermarket chain seeing a spike in comfort food purchases over the last month; sales of cottage pie were up 110 per cent, for example. That’s the problem with Mediterranean diets – while they may lead to a healthy life, they’re quite boring.

Don’t let Gen Z cancel the beach 

We’ve just got back from the so-called ‘Hamptons of Europe’, aka Comporta in Portugal, where my teenage daughter complained about the beautiful beach because, like many young people, she doesn’t like sand. Indeed, a survey this week found 26 per cent of Gen Z are put off the seaside by the thought of sandy shoes.

Now we also learn that beach huts are falling out of favour, with their prices plunging for a second year. But, to my mind, there’s nowhere better than the coast – even a blustery British one in the middle of winter. Please, for the love of God, don’t let Gen Z cancel the beach!