Andrea McLean said 'absolutely not' to working with 'shouty ladies' on Loose Women
Andrea McLean, the television star who gained fame after joining GMTV as a weather presenter in 1997 and later became a popular co-host, initially branded the Loose Women panel as "shouty women" when she was asked to join the hit ITV show. She further ventured into presenting by standing in for Lorraine Kelly on LK Today during her absence and Andrea's popularity caught the attention of Loose Women producers who approached her to be a guest panellist.
However, she was initially resistant to the idea. During an interview with Giovanna Fletcher on the Happy mum Happy Baby podcast, she revealed that she was approached to join the panel on her first day back at GMTV after having her daughter Amy.
The mum-of-two explained: "On the very first day I got a phone call saying 'Loose Women have been in touch would you like to work on that show'.
"My first gut reaction was no. It was my agent that had rung me and I said 'no, absolutely not, that programme with the shouty ladies, I don't want to go on that show," reports the Express.
"I'd been on it once as a guest and I'd been terrified. And she was like 'no, no, they want you to be the anchor' and I thought 'oh I could do that, I could anchor'. I couldn't just be a panellist."
After overcoming her initial reservations, Andrea went on to host Loose Women for 13 years before leaving the show in 2020. Recently, it was announced that the 54 year old would be returning to the show to mark its 25th anniversary this month.
Andrea shared her fond memories of the show saying, "It's obviously a brilliant show and I was there for 13 years. I love that it has opinionated people who are prepared to stick to their guns but I'm not like that."
Aside from her time on Loose Women, Andrea is also a mother of two, and has taken part in a variety of TV shows including Dancing on Ice, hosting Our House on UKTV Style, competing in gymnastics show Tumble on BBC One, and testing her mettle on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
She tied the knot with her third husband Nick Feeney in 2017, and has a son named Finlay with first husband Nick Green, as well as a daughter Amy with second husband Steve Toms.