Melissa Grelo is wearing a shirt that says “Hustlers,” and not only because she loves Jennifer Lopez and the glamorous heist film the singer stars in. “Hustler” is also how Grelo sees herself, as a multi-hyphenate broadcaster, podcaster and entrepreneur standing on the brink of a new beginning.
Last month, Grelo left “The Social,” the popular daytime talk show that she helped to create and co-hosted for 13 years. Fans were taken by surprise when Bell Media announced that the show would return in early September as a “premium video podcast” with co-hosts Andrea Bain, Jess Allen and Cynthia Loyst, but without its live audience — or Grelo.
As Grelo adjusts to her new professional reality, the Star spoke with her about midlife pivots, ageism in broadcasting and putting her energy into her podcast, “Aging Powerfully with Melissa Grelo,” whose fourth season began on Sept. 24.
You recently said, “I want to wake up to a life I’m excited for.” What are you excited about when you get out of bed in the morning?
Creating something from a deep place of purpose makes me really excited. I’ve always hustled. That is never going to change. Right now, I’m really excited to be in a phase of creating for meaningful change, especially for women who are 40 plus.
Sometimes we’re in seasons of building. Sometimes we’re in seasons of rest. I’m excited to be in this phase of wanting to create something that’s my own. I feel empowered. I feel like I’m in the driver’s seat of my own life, and that’s a really fun place to be.
Your fans have been very curious about this period in your life, following your departure from “The Social.” On the fourth season of your podcast, you’ll tell them what happened. What will you say?
I’m going to address the fact that a lot of this was sort of abrupt, and it felt like a surprise. I realize that this kind of came out of nowhere, with no announcements and no preparation. I’m very sad about that because I wasn’t able to even say my own goodbyes.
At the end of the day, there’s something bigger than me that I can’t control. There are bigger business decisions that are made about what you see on TV, who’s hosting this and who’s hosting that. Those are decisions that come from a much higher place than my position. Everybody wants to know exactly what happened, which I can’t get into. Unfortunately, that’s private.
What I can say is that I want to acknowledge the viewers, who have been so supportive, who have been living alongside me as I share my life. People have been inundating me with their messages, and it’s heartwarming. I’ve missed the audience, and my connection with them.
I’ve talked about this since I was a wee young feminist, and now I’m a 49-year-old woman. Media is simply an extension of our culture, and our culture is changing very slowly with how we regard ‘aging’ women.
I pointed out many times on “The Social” that there is a phenomenon of aging out of the system in television. Since the beginning of time, we have seen that. Does that apply to my situation? I don’t think so, but I’m not the one to ask.
As I said when I won a Canadian Screen Award a couple of years ago, “existence is resistance.” I just came back from France. In Europe, it feels like they’re less preoccupied about the age of a woman on television, especially in prominent roles. We still have a problem with that here in many places. For example, younger female news anchor and older male anchor. It’s an old trope, and it still exists.
I am really excited that I’ve created choices and paths for myself, which is also a midlife woman’s story. For me, entrepreneurship, which is fully where I am right now, is the ability to say that nobody’s going to dictate if they think I’m valuable or not. I actually know I am, and other people think so too.
What issues do you want to explore on season four of “Aging Powerfully”?
I’m dedicated to education, empowerment, entertainment and fun when it comes to understanding this midlife transition. I explore these topics through science. I love science and medicine, and I really hate pseudo-science. I hate grifters and misinformation. That’s thematically going to be very prominent in this season’s podcast.
The menopause space has evolved a lot. Now that we’re getting more education, also in equal step we have misinformation, and grifters who are trying to sell women stuff. I want everyone to be inoculated with the skills to sniff out the grift, and be able to ask better questions and make good decisions. I want to give women all the information they need. We’re really good at making decisions — we do it for ourselves and our families every day.
What do you think the big misconceptions are around menopause and perimenopause?
We still don’t understand that it’s not a medical condition. It’s not a disease. This is a natural biological transition. It’s a real thing, not to be dismissed, and it’s never been talked about enough to this point. We’re just getting there now, which is wonderful.
There’s a lot of institutional misunderstanding and lack of education. We are not supported through this transition. I want every level — from each of us as individuals, right through to large institutions, employers, and the government — to understand that we need support. We need to be supported through this transition.
Finally, I want to ask about the audience, because it was such a huge part of “The Social.” I know you miss that connection with a live audience. Are live events and podcasts part of your future?
The audience was crucial to our success. We often would say that the audience was like the other character in the show. The people who came to watch made me a better broadcaster, and a better human. We shared our lives together. So live events and podcast are absolutely on the docket of all the things I want to accomplish, because I miss people in the audience so much.
