Andrea McLean to depart Loose Women

Andrea McLean announced on today’s Loose Women that she is leaving the show after 13 years as one of the regular co-hosts.

Speaking to her fellow panellists Linda Robson, Brenda Edwards and Saira Khan, Andrea revealed she has made the difficult decision to focus on her website and brand, ‘This Girl is on Fire’ and will be leaving the show at Christmas.

During a segment about how the pandemic has made us reflect on our lives, Andrea explained how it has had a profound impact on her.

“Like so many people this has been a time to hugely reflect and think back. So many people have been talking about how they can’t wait for life to get back to normal. I, like many people, did that and thought, ‘Do I want my life to go back to the normal that it was before?’

“Obviously last year I had a nervous breakdown and what I felt is that this year collectively the world has had a breakdown. The experience that I had has meant that this year that I have actually been mentally really strong to deal with everything that the pandemic threw at all of us but it made me stop and think, ‘What do I actually want?’”

She continued: “You get one life, are you living it the way that you want? And are you doing everything that you want to do? Are you being brave? Are you taking chances? And I realised, no.”

Becoming emotional, Andrea added: “I didn’t think I was going to cry. I’ve told you, ladies, just before we came on the air. I’m going to be leaving Loose Women because I want to be brave…all the incredible feedback that I had from my book and the support I was able to give them, I want to bring it to life. It was a really, really big decision to jump and see if I fall or if I fly. And I just thought, I will never know unless I try, so I am saying goodbye to Loose Women.”

Andrea went on to reveal how the decision was totally hers and the support she has received behind the scenes.

“ITV has been amazing,” she said. “I have been anchoring Loose Women for 13 years now and I have been part of ITV daytime for 23 and actually the team have been so wonderful [saying] ‘Can we help, can we give you less days so you can focus on your business?’ I am not saying goodbye to telly either… You just never know unless you try, I just want to put myself out there, see what the universe has in store, help as many women as I possibly can in whatever that means but for now it means with my website and all the love and effort that I am putting into that, that will be my focus.”

Andrea concluded the show, saying: “This is not goodbye, it’s au revoir because I am still going to be here right up until Christmas!”

Andrea was first seen early in the mornings as weather presenter on GMTV from 1997 until 2008 and had also co-hosted occasionally the main GMTV Today programme.

“Andrea has been an important member of the Loose Women family for an incredible 13 years, sharing laughs, opinions, fun and friendship with our viewers. As well as being a much-loved anchor and friend, over the years she has been a passionate supporter of our award-winning Lighten the Load and Body Stories campaigns. We are very sad to say goodbye, but she will always be part of the Loose family and we wish her all the best for her exciting new chapter.” – Loose Women Editor Sally Shelford

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV, STV and UTV.