Loose Women: Andrea McLean returns as a guest on the show
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Andrea McLean has opened up about the time her Loose Women co-star Linda Robson “outed” her live on air by revealing that she was going through the menopause in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk. The Scottish journalist, who spoke about her experience of the menopause as part of the Boots and No7 Menopause Monologues, went on to clarify that she “loved” Linda for “changing her life”.
Popular presenter and This Girl Is On Fire founder Andrea was plunged into menopause at 46 after she had to undergo a hysterectomy.
The star, who was a fan favourite on Loose Women between 2007 and 2020, described how it wasn’t until later in 2016 that her early menopause became public knowledge.
Andrea recalled how she ended up being accidentally “outed” by her former ITV colleague on live TV.
“Linda Robson totally outed me on the telly,” Andrea revealed. “Because I wasn’t gonna say anything!
“And the time was 2016, it was very different to how it is now,” she remembered.
“You know, I was told you cannot mention that you’re having a hysterectomy, you cannot mention you’re going through the menopause…
“Because people will think that you’re old and past it and no one will want to hire you anymore.
“This is what my former agent told me, so when I ended up announcing it on Loose Women because Linda Robson dobbed me in…” Andrea paused to laugh.
The author then went on to confirm there were no hard feelings between herself and Linda, even crediting her former ITV co-star for her successful new career.
“And I love her for it! I totally love her for it because it changed the whole course of my life,” Andrea admitted. “I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if it wasn’t for her.”
“It meant that I then started down a road of ‘right how can I help people?’” she reflected.
Andrea went on to speak fondly of her partner Nick Feeney, whom she described as a fantastic support throughout.
“Yeah, he jokes about it now that he knows more than most men because, obviously, I have had a lifetime of endometriosis,” she said.
“We met in my 40s and then it became really clear it was becoming quite debilitating.
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“And my best option to feel better was to have a full hysterectomy, which I did.
“And then, when I went through what I went through and because I was in the public eye, I started trying to help women who were going through the same thing, because I’d had to announce it publicly.”
Speaking about starting out on the new path of This Girl Is On Fire after leaving Loose Women, Andrea recalled how well Nick adapted to the change.
“So I was doing a lot of research, which meant Nick was surrounded by it,” she said in reference to the menopause, “Because we would be talking about it over the dinner table and this sort of thing.
“And what’s amazing about Nick – and I know I’m really fortunate – is that he can see how important it is that men know about it.
“We’ve both retrained as life coaches and what he specialises in now is helping midlife men.
“And funnily enough, menopause comes up so often in the work that he does with men going, ‘Oh my wife’s this, that and the other…’
“And it’s him that says to them, ‘Have you ever thought that she’s going through the menopause? Actually, you need to be more supportive. Stop being such an idiot.’
“I’m really lucky that I have a husband who’s not only really well informed on it, but also gets it and understands the ripple effect of, as a couple, supporting each other through it.”
Boots and No7 recently launched the Menopause Monologues, where tenured celebs Andrea, Gabby Logan, Anna Richardson, Sally Phillips, Shaparak Khorsandi and Karen Arthur performed a monologue revealing their personal experience, the signs or symptoms that affected them most and their thoughts on what can be done to improve the experience of menopause for all women.
Andrea McLean is opening up about her experiences of the menopause as part of the Boots and No7 Menopause Monologues. Boots has products, services and advice to help women take control of over 40 signs and symptoms of the menopause, available on boots.com.
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