Andrea McLean

Last updated

Andrea McLean
Andrea McLean.jpg
McLean in 2009
Born (1969-10-05) 5 October 1969 (age 55)
Glasgow, Scotland
Alma mater Coventry University
Occupation(s)Journalist, television presenter
Spouses
  • Nick Green
    (m. 2000;div. 2005)
  • Steve Toms
    (m. 2009;div. 2012)
  • Nick Feeney
    (m. 2017)
Children2

Andrea Jean McLean (born 5 October 1969) is a Scottish journalist and television presenter who works on ITV Daytime.

Contents

She was a weather presenter for GMTV from 1997 to 2008, and a co-presenter on ITV's daytime chat show Loose Women from 2007 to 2020 until her return in 2024.

Early life

Although born in Glasgow, McLean and her sister were raised in Trinidad and Tobago. The family then moved back to Scotland when she was 15, [1] but later settled in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, and took her school exams at Robert Smyth grammar school.[ citation needed ]

McLean is of Russian Jewish descent on her father's side who fled from Russia to Scotland to avoid persecution. [2] McLean has stated she has always known about her Jewish heritage but her family are not religiously Jewish anymore. [3]

McLean studied for her BA Hons in Modern Studies at Coventry University, and later gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Periodical Journalism. She then took a gap year in Cairns, Australia. [4]

Career

McLean started her career in 1993 as a freelance travel writer. She joined Central Press Features in May 1994 and was promoted to Production Editor in 1995. [1] In June 1996, McLean joined The Weather Channel, and worked as a weather reporter for Talk Radio. [1] In 1997, she worked on Channel 5's daily talk show Espresso as one of the programme's panellists. [1]

In June 1997, McLean joined GMTV as a weather presenter. She co-hosted GMTV Today with Ben Shephard and Eamonn Holmes, and hosted LK Today in Lorraine Kelly's absence. Her bubbly personality and journalistic training brought her to the attention of various producers, resulting in her presenting shows such as the first series of Our House for UKTV Style, [5] and as a guest panellist on Loose Women for ITV. After announcing her decision to leave in November 2008, McLean was replaced as GMTV weather presenter by the BBC's Kirsty McCabe. [6] McLean presented her final broadcast on 31 December 2008, with a special tribute of her career at GMTV.

In January 2006, McLean took part in ITV's ice-skating competition Dancing on Ice . She partnered with professional skater Doug Webster [7] and was eliminated in the third week. McLean and fellow ex-contestant Andi Peters then presented the weekday fan show Dancing on Ice Extra for the remainder of the show's run.

McLean filled in for Jackie Brambles on Loose Women when Brambles went on maternity leave. In July 2008, it was announced that McLean would quit working on GMTV to focus on her role on Loose Women, [8] to share the permanent host job with Brambles. Brambles left the show on 7 August 2009, Kate Thornton took her place as the new anchor when the show returned for its 10th anniversary on 1 September 2009 and shared the job with McLean. In 2011, Thornton was replaced by Carol Vorderman. In 2013, Kaye Adams became an anchor and Ruth Langsford returned to the programme in January 2014. In July 2014, Vorderman announced her departure from Loose Women. McLean continued to co-anchor Loose Women 2 or 3 days a week. Langsford and Christine Lampard are the other anchors. On 30 November 2020, McLean announced she was to leave the show after 13 years to pursue other endeavours. [9] She departed the show on 16 December 2020.

In August 2010, McLean appeared as one of the panellists on ITV's afternoon debate show 3@Three . [10] In 2011, McLean played the role of Dr. Audrey Grey in the British drama film A Landscape of Lies .

In August 2014, McLean took part in the BBC One gymnastics series Tumble partnered with professional gymnast Alex Uttley [11] and on 16 August, she was the first celebrity to be eliminated. [12]

In June 2018, McLean launched her own website, This Girl Is On Fire with husband Nick Feeney. [13] Born out of the response of her best-selling book, Confessions of a Menopausal Woman, [14] McLean decided to create an online community for women not only going through the menopause, but also wanting to 'relight their fire'. In June 2019, McLean and Feeney celebrated the site's first birthday with a party attended by website contributors and special guests such as Amanda Lamb, Jo Malone and Brenda Edwards. The event was covered by Hello! magazine. [15]

In June 2021, McLean, alongside husband Nick Feeney, became a certified life coach. [16]

Personal life

McLean had a 17-year relationship, starting from their teenage years, [17] with BBC producer Nick Green. The couple married in Kenya in 2000, and have a son, Finlay, born in October 2001. [18] In 2004, it came to light that McLean had an affair with fellow Our House presenter Steve Toms, [19] but had returned to her husband to try to resolve issues. [17]

After divorcing Green, McLean and Toms moved in together, and lived in Ashtead, Surrey; they had a daughter, Amy, in November 2006. [20] The couple married in August 2009, during Loose Women's summer break. [21]

In January 2012, McLean announced that she had separated from Toms, having left their marital home in December 2011 with their children, following working on their failing marriage for a year, and was now living with her parents. [22]

In January 2016, McLean announced that she was living with her new partner of two years, Nick Feeney, a businessman, whom she met on a blind date set up by Donna May Clitheroe, a Loose Women make-up artist. [23] On 3 August 2017, Andrea announced on Loose women that Nick had proposed in Paris the week before and they were engaged. They married in November 2017. [24]

On Loose Women on 21 September 2016, McLean stated she would be undergoing a hysterectomy on 22 September 2016 and that she would be away from the show for a number of weeks whilst she recovered. This sent her into the menopause causing her to experience symptoms on air. [25]

Charity

On 11 December 2013, McLean did a reverse bungee jump live on Loose Women for Text Santa . She was catapulted 37m into the sky at over 50 mph outside The London Studios, after Loose Women reached its Text Santa fundraising target of £50,000. [26]

Filmography

Television
YearTitleRoleChannelq
1997EspressoPanellist Channel 5
1997–2008 GMTV Weather presenter ITV
Our HousePresenter UKTV Style (now Home)
LK Today Presenter ITV
2006 Dancing on Ice Contestant
Dancing on Ice Extra Co-presenter
2007–2020 Loose Women Anchor
2010 3@Three Panellist
2014 Tumble Contestant BBC One
2019 Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins Contestant Channel 4
Guest appearances
Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2011 A Landscape of Lies Dr. Audrey Grey

Related Research Articles

Nadia Sawalha is an English actress, television personality, writer, TV cook and vlogger. She is best known as a long-term regular panellist on the ITV daytime talk show Loose Women, being one of the original panellists from its start in 1999 until 2002, before returning to the show in 2013 after a panellist revamp. She played the role of Gina in ITV comedy Second Thoughts from 1992 to 1994, and Annie Palmer on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from 1997 to 1999. She has also had minor roles in The Bill, Casualty, Benidorm and 99-1 and presented a number of television programmes in the early 2000s, whilst taking a break from Loose Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Garraway</span> British broadcaster (born 1967)

Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Currently, Garraway is the presenter of Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway on Smooth Radio and newsreader and co-anchor of the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GMTV</span> Former UK breakfast television franchisee

GMTV, now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end. The final edition of GMTV was broadcast on 3 September 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariella Frostrup</span> British journalist and presenter

Mariella Frostrup is a British-Norwegian journalist and presenter, known in British television and radio mainly for arts programmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Kelly</span> Scottish presenter and journalist (born 1959)

Lorraine Smith is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including Good Morning Britain (1988–1992), GMTV (1993–2010), This Morning, Daybreak (2012–2014), The Sun Military Awards (2016–present), STV Children's Appeal (2016–present), and her eponymous programme Lorraine (2010–present).

Jackie Todd Brambles is a British journalist, radio DJ and television presenter. In the earlier part of her broadcasting career she was known as Jakki Brambles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Thornton</span> English TV presenter

Kate Thornton is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of The X Factor (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including Loose Women (2009–2011) and This Morning (2009–2012). In 2010, she co-presented the first series of 71 Degrees North alongside Gethin Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne Middlemiss</span> English TV presenter and former model

Jayne Middlemiss is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows including The O Zone and Top of the Pops in the mid-1990s, as well as other television and radio shows, including on BBC Radio 6 Music. She has won both Celebrity MasterChef and reality show Celebrity Love Island.

<i>Loose Women</i> British talk show

Loose Women is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about aspects of their lives, and discuss topical issues ranging from politics and current affairs to celebrity gossip and entertainment news. The 3,000th episode of Loose Women was broadcast on 15 May 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleen Nolan</span> English singer, author, beauty queen and television presenter

Coleen Patricia Nolan is an English singer, television personality, and author. She was a member of the pop group The Nolans, in which she sang with her sisters. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, The Nolans are one of the world's biggest selling girl groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Phillips</span> English journalist and TV presenter (born 1961)

Fiona Phillips is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for presenting the ITV Breakfast programme GMTV Today.

Linda Patricia Mary Robson Dunford is an English actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in the sitcom Birds of a Feather and her appearances as a weekly panellist on the ITV series Loose Women.

Lisa Jane Riley is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. Riley is best known for portraying the role of Mandy Dingle in the long-running ITV soap opera Emmerdale between 1995 and 2001, and from 2019 onwards. She also replaced Jeremy Beadle as the presenter of You've Been Framed! between 1998 and 2002. She was also a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, and a panellist on the ITV daytime series Loose Women.

Penelope Jane Smith is an English author, television presenter, newsreader and radio presenter. She has presented for Sky News, GMTV, Classic FM, BBC Radio London, TalkRadio and is a regular contributor to TalkTV launched in April 2022. Smith is a current presenter of the weekday mid-morning show on Magic Classical and her favourite classical composer is Giacomo Puccini.

Clare Lyn Nasir is an English meteorologist, author, and TV presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Langsford</span> British TV presenter (born 1960)

Ruth Wendy Langsford is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including This Morning (1999–2022), of which she is the longest-serving presenter, Gift Wrapped (2014), How the Other Half Lives (2015–2019), and Ruth Langsford’s Fashion Edit (2017–present). Since 1999, Langsford has been a regular panellist on the ITV talk show Loose Women, becoming a presenter in 2013. In 2017, she took part in the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, in which she finished in ninth place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Lampard</span> TV presenter

Christine Louise Lampard is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as The One Show (2007–2010) and Daybreak (2010–2011), while with Phillip Schofield she has presented Dancing on Ice (2012–2014) and This Morning. Lampard has also presented factual series for ITV including Off The Beaten Track (2013) and Wild Ireland (2015). Since 2016 she has been a presenter of the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Maxwell (actress)</span> British actress and television presenter

Lisa Maxwell is an English actress, television presenter and singer, best known for her role in The Bill as Samantha Nixon. Between 2009 and 2014, she was a regular panellist on ITV chat show series Loose Women.

Richard Andrew Arnold is an English television presenter and actor. He is currently working as a freelance journalist, and he is the Entertainment Editor for ITV's breakfast show Good Morning Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlene White</span> British TV presenter (born 1980)

Charlene Denise White is a British television broadcaster, journalist and presenter, best known for presenting ITV News programmes. She has been an anchor on Loose Women since 2021 and appeared on the ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in November 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Andrea McLean". gm.tv. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  2. "GLASGLOW BELONGS TO ME; GMTV'S Andrea has uncovered the truth about her Scottish roots-she couldn't be more proud". Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland). 2006.
  3. Andrea McLean (2 February 2012). Confessions of a Good Girl: My Story. Pan Macmillan. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-283-07160-7.
  4. "GMTV Star Was Fired For Not Squeezing Oranges Fast Enough". Sunday Mail. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  5. "Andrea McLean". UKTV Style. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  6. "Sky's Crosby to join GMTV's team". 20 November 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  7. "My Big Break". Daily Record. 12 January 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  8. "McLean quits GMTV for "Loose Women"". digitalspy.co.uk. 21 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 December 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  9. "Andrea McLean "thrilled" as Judy Finnigan makes TV return on Loose Women".
  10. 3@Three Presspack, ITV Press Centre, 26 July 2010
  11. "BBC - Celebrity line-up revealed for new BBC One show, Tumble - Media Centre".
  12. Walker, Danny (16 August 2014). "Tumble: Andrea McLean first to leave show". Daily Mirror .
  13. "Loose Women star Andrea McLean and husband Nick Feeney unveil new MAKEOVER for special reason". HELLO!. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  14. "about". This Girl Is on Fire. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  15. "Loose Women's Andrea McLean reveals she never had a group of girlfriends at school". HELLO!. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  16. "Login • Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  17. 1 2 Watts, Halina (20 May 2020). "Andrea McLean's secret heartache that led to 'dark place' and painful breakdown". mirror. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  18. "Loose Women star Andrea McLean reveals her WORRY for son Finlay". HELLO!. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  19. "AFTER PAIN OF DIVORCE THE OUTLOOK IS SUNNY FOR WEATHERGIRL". Daily Record. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  20. Shenton 2019-08-11T12:40:31Z, Zoe (11 August 2019). "Andrea McLean shares picture with lookalike daughter as she takes her to work for the day". Woman and Home Magazine. Retrieved 18 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. "Andrea McLean". ITV.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  22. Lorraine , 31 January 2012
  23. "Loved-up Loose Women star Andrea McLean says she'd consider another walk down the aisle". Daily Mirror. London. 16 January 2016.
  24. "Andrea McLean wedding: look back at her big day with Nick Feeney on 2nd anniversary". HELLO!. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  25. Jones, Emma (18 March 2018). "Andrea McLean on going through the menopause and her third marriage". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  26. Mirror.co.uk (12 December 2013). "Loose Women host Andrea McLean completes reverse bungee jump live on TV for Text Santa appeal". mirror. Retrieved 18 December 2020.