SUZANNE Noble opened up an email from an 82-year-old fan describing a vigorous romp with his wife.
With a wry smile, the expert read every detail and then responded with gushing praise. She’s been working to shatter the taboos around the sex lives of pensioners for years – hip replacements or not – and reveals the peak age for such activity is much older than you probably think.
Suzanne Noble, host of podcast Sex Advice For Seniors, is on a mission to help OAPs Credit: Suzanne Noble
The author, 65, enjoys no strings relationships around the world Credit: Suzanne Noble
Author and mum Suzanne, 65, herself enjoys multiple no strings relationships around the world – while her podcast Sex Advice For Seniors has proved a major hit.
She promotes the best positions for bodies that are getting older, how to kick start a crusty libido and relieve pain that puts so many OAPs off really going for it between the sheets.
And it’s opened up a world of polyamorous relationships and even BDSM play parties frequented by those more stereotypically expected to be enjoying early nights, winding down in front of the TV watching .
US-born Suzanne, who now lives in London, told The Sun: “The taboo around having sex in later life is gradually being overcome – although I would say it’s still pretty prevalent.
“I also want people to understand if they do have challenges, that there are solutions – they don’t have to suffer in silence.
“Sex as you get older is very much fulfilling – with a few tweaks.”
She started the podcast in June 2022 alongside ex-partner Peter Marriott – with both in their 60s.
“We were very lucky in that the week that we launched, we had literally one or two episodes out, a movie came out with called Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Suzanne explained.
Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack in 2022 film Good Luck To You Leo Grande Credit: Alamy
The film coincided with Suzanne’s podcast launching and created the perfect storm Credit: Suzanne Noble
“It’s about a woman in her 60s who was discovering sex after having a fairly unfulfilling sexual life in her .
“The media were looking for people to interview about this topic, and they stumbled upon me and Peter, and so very quickly it took off as a result of getting some media attention.”
Six months later, Peter stepped aside as co-host and moved away from London, with the couple also separating.
Suzanne joked: “Quite frankly, Peter ran out of things to talk about, unsurprisingly being a man.”
LA sexologist Zoë Kors took his place until spring 2024 before also departing – though both have returned for guest spots – and Suzanne has pushed on.
“I just continued on interviewing professionals in various areas, anything from a urologist to tantra teachers and coaches, and just really you name it,” she said.
“Anyone who’s really interested in talking about sex, dating, and relationships at this stage of life.”
Suzanne says people are feeling more and more liberated to improve their sex lives at a later age.
Suzanne says having great sex during your advanced years shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of Credit: Suzanne Noble
She regularly receives emails from fans describing their sex lives Credit: Suzanne Noble
One of the reasons she points to is the increasing rate at an older age, meaning people are finding themselves back on the dating market in their senior years – in a phenomenon called “grey divorce” or “silver splitters”.
British couples aged 50 and older now account for approximately 36 per cent of all divorces compared to less than 10 per cent in 1990, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Suzanne said: “People are coming out of long-term marriages, and maybe they’re wanting to explore , for example, or thinking about the kind of relationship that they might want to have now that they don’t have to have kids anymore and necessarily get married.”
Podcast guest Dr Shila Patel, a retired psychiatrist and author, claimed research suggests women often reach their highest level of sexual satisfaction at age 64.
This contrasts with men, who she says often start “stepping back” from sexual activity around age 50.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that before,” Suzanne said laughing.
Much of her audience seems to be men in their 50s who are looking to jumpstart things in the bedroom, and even introduce more open relationships with their long-term partners.
“They’re thinking, I want to explore my sexuality, I want to perhaps go to play parties, I want to do things that I’ve never done before,” said Suzanne.
Suzanne discusses the best positions for older bodies – as well as health complications Credit: Suzanne Noble
She says we have to embrace getting older Credit: Suzanne Noble
“And I’m seeing a lot more people in this kind of age group that are really curious about all of this in a way that I suspect just wasn’t available to us when we were in our 20s.”
She said the rise of the internet, dating apps and meet up groups has replaced the seediness of classified ads in newspapers advertising swingers parties – alongside pornography and escorts.
“It was so underground back then,” Suzanne explained. “Now we’ve got all sorts of ways that we can connect with people just completely differently, which means that for a lot of older people, this is a very exciting time of life.”
She went on to say, the “most exciting thing” about getting into a relationship during your advancing years is lots of the insecurities of youth have gone.
“I think that people at this age are more comfortable talking about sex, more comfortable once they overcome some of the aspects of our changing bodies, more comfortable just laughing about things, and just generally taking the whole idea of sex, which, frankly, is a ridiculous activity when you think about it – all less seriously.”
She continued: “You really have the opportunity to talk about your fantasies and explore the things that you might enjoy that maybe you just didn’t feel comfortable talking about when you were younger.
“This is the age group where we have more opportunity to explore, and also, hopefully we’ve got more time on our hands,” she added laughing.
“If I want to spend the whole Sunday afternoon in bed with somebody now, I can do that. Whereas when I was bringing up my kids, that just wasn’t possible.”
Suzanne says pensioners have the bonus of having more free time for intimacy Credit: Suzanne Noble
She said an expert on her podcast revealed the peak age for sex is actually 64 Credit: Suzanne Noble
However, Suzanne accepts a marathon sex session for an OAP would probably look a lot different to someone in their younger days.
“You probably wouldn’t have like 20 orgasms like you did in your twenties, right?” she said.
“I personally think that the advantage of people that have to slow it down is that sex becomes a much more leisurely activity as opposed to this kind of frantic way that it can be when you’re younger – which, don’t get me wrong, can be really fun.
“But it’s kind of nice to know that the person you’re with probably isn’t going to be able to have 10 orgasms in a night and is probably just going to be content with one.
“As a result of that, the whole activity just gets drawn out because you’ve only got one chance, and that’s it.
“And then you’ve got to spend the rest of the evening recovering. You’ve got to space it out, which I think actually is quite nice.”
On top of promoting the benefits and stripping away the taboos of senior sex, Suzanne speaks openly about the health challenges.
“You might have heart problems or your hips might be a bit dodgy or your knees might be a bit knackered or whatever,” she explained.
“There are general issues that often come up that I get asked about, like mobility issues and positions that you can use when you perhaps have got a hip replacement.”
In terms of the best positions for OAP sex, Suzanne said spooning is a “nice comfortable one”.
“I also have a pillow thing that I bought off of , that is really comfortable on the knees.
“And there’s wedges that you can use that raise your hips up.
“You have to look at what your physical limitations might be, and then talk through adaptations until you’re both really happy.”
She also speaks often about the drop in libido many older people suffer and the ways to “perk it up”.
“For women, we get dryness, and sex just hurts too much, and obviously for men, there’s erectile dysfunction – but both of these have solutions, whether it’s lubricants, Viagra, testosterone replacement therapy”.
“There’s stuff that people can do. It’s just because people are embarrassed to go and seek help and they just shut down,” Suzanne said.
“The people that I speak to that are having a blast are often the people that have taken control of whatever issues that they were having – gone to see a doctor, sorted it out.
“It’s just acknowledging that our bodies have changed.
“Our arousal patterns do change. But there are definitely ways that you can carry on having a great sex life if you adapt accordingly.
“The biggest challenge I see is that people, especially women I know, just say, I don’t feel like I did in my 20s. I’m like well, that’s because you’re not in your 20s.”
As for men, Suzanne has launched the Stay Firm Program in conjunction with sexologist Ken Schafer, to help with overcoming erectile dysfunction naturally.
“Erectile dysfunction is really complex,” she explained. “And the reason why I’m doing this is because it affects 50 per cent of all men over 50. So the problem is humongous.
“And often it’s a result of an underlying health condition because ED is often the first warning sign that there’s something actually wrong with your health, which could be , could be prostate, could be vascular health.
“Statistically, men who struggle with ED and don’t actually seek help within five years, the likelihood is they will have a significant event like a heart attack or a .”
As for her own sex life, Suzanne travels to and from the UK a lot, and is currently single.
“When I’m out of the UK, I have people that I date, and when I’m back, I have people that I see here… I usually see the same people.”
Asked how many times a week she’s having sex, she said: “Oh God! Once a week. That’s a good week.”
To supplement things, Suzanne loves to hear about the sex lives of her listeners, including an 82-year-old who touched base recently.
“He and his partner have sex all the time,” she said laughing. “And they having a grand old time.
“I do get loads of people, much older people, that say that they’re still having a very, very active sex life with their partner.”
But messages are not always so positive, and Suzanne is often trolled by haters.
“They say really horrible things, frankly, but I just ignore them,” she admitted.
“There’s nothing else you can do with those people other than block and ignore them.
“There’s no accounting for what weird people decide that they’re going to take umbrage with, is there?”
“I have a woman that I’ve spoken to on my podcast, she’s trying to write about sex and , and she finds it very difficult with the trolls and the people that are kinky pervs trying to ask her for naked pictures and all sorts of horrible things.
“Everybody who writes about sex gets trolled. It’s just the way it is, especially if you’re a woman. It just comes with the territory, and I think the manosphere and all of that sort of stuff has definitely not helped.
“Men feel almost as if they’re given the right to be really vicious.”
She said trolls will often target her own physical appearance, writing: “You’d have to put a bag over your head.”
Susanne added: “I don’t engage, I don’t respond – I’m enjoying my life too much.”
For more on Suzanne and her services, see the new and her website .
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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