Andrea: THE TRUTH BEHIND MY LOOSE WOMEN EXIT

The anchor of 13 years reveals the show is a pressurised popularity contest

They’ve tried their hardest to maintain the wholesome image of supportive sisterhood amid constant rumours of furious rows behind the scenes, but is there really no smoke without fire? Now ex-Loose Women anchor Andrea McLean has waded in to reveal that her departure in December 2020 wasn’t perhaps all it seemed.

At the time, rumours swirled that Andrea, 52, walked because she was fed up with the constant off-air rows. There were even whispers of a bruised ego and fears of being sidelined thanks to producers’ plans to shake up the format by bringing in new blood.

At the time, Andrea insisted publicly that she left one of daytime telly’s biggest shows after 13 years to pursue her own ambitions, saying, ‘I’m going to be leaving Loose Women because I want to be brave. All the incredible feedback I had from my book, This Girl is on Fire: How to Live, Learn and Thrive in a Life You Love, and the support I was able to give [the readers], 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’m saying goodbye.’

Now, in a recently unearthed podcast with TV star Vicky Pattison, the show’s longest-serving anchor admits that joining Loose Women had her worried from the start, as she claimed she was ‘too scared’ to sign up in the first place, calling it ‘the shouty programme where all the women argued’ and later comparing her role to a ‘gladiators’ referee’.