Former Loose Women star Andrea McLean has provided an update on her health after enduring a series of serious illnesses in recent years. The 56-year-old, who left the show in 2020, has previously suffered from Covid, severe pneumonia, kidney failure, and sepsis, following a diagnosis of medium vessel vasculitis in 2016.
Physical and Financial Toll
The health battles not only took a physical toll but also affected her financially, as she was running her own business at the time. Speaking about her current state, Andrea admitted she is "grateful" to finally be healthy again, as she launches her new book Shameless.
She told Bella Magazine: "I'm not dead! I had all the symptoms of lupus, but it was Covid. It was horrific and debilitating. You discover that rock bottom has a trap door and there's still further you can fall."
"I lost my business because we were running into problems that all start-ups have, but because I became ill and couldn't work, we couldn't fix them," she added.
Parallel Universe of Illness
Andrea, who is married to her third husband Nick, continued: "We ran out of runway. But then I contracted pneumonia and had kidney failure and sepsis. It's hard to explain - normal life was carrying on for everybody else, but you've entered this parallel universe."
"It's really weird but I'm really grateful that I'm healthy now."
Listening to Her Body
The former weather presenter went on to say that although she is now in good health, she still has days where she wakes up feeling aches and pains, which she largely puts down to getting older. In a bid to avoid becoming ill again, Andrea said she has learned to listen to her body and recognise when she needs to slow down.
Speaking to the Daily Express in 2024, she explained: "I just try and take care of myself and it's really basic things [such as] getting enough sleep, making sure I eat well and when I get to the point of overworking, which I have a tendency to do, it's recognising that, 'Right you're going back to working 18 hour days, stop it! Go for a walk and calm down a little bit' and it's making myself not doing that."
Career After Loose Women
Andrea left the programme in 2020 before launching her own app, Girl Is On Fire, which ultimately struggled to gain traction. After recovering from long Covid, she relaunched herself as a media trainer, using her more than 20 years of broadcasting experience to help nervous CEOs, spokespersons, and brand ambassadors communicate more effectively.
However, needing to supplement her income, Andrea revealed she later began applying for part-time jobs online. "Not a single person answered any of my job applications including Starbucks, and other different coffee houses and shops," she told the publication. "You never think any of this will happen to you, but if fell off the cliff, it was embarrassing and humiliating."
New Book: Shameless
The journalist has since released her new book, Shameless, which is described as a guide to breaking free from shame and finding the courage to keep going through life's toughest moments.
