Andrea McLean tearfully quits Loose Women live on air

She has been on the show for 13 years

ANDREA MCLEAN LOOSE WOMEN

by Alex Ross |
Updated on

Today's episode of Loose Women (30 November) ended in tears as popular panellist Andrea McLean announced she would be leaving the show after an amazing 13 years.

As Andrea's co-stars Linda Robson, Brenda Edwards and Saira Khan looked back on what they've learnt from the horrid year that has been 2020, Andrea opened up about having a mental breakdown in 2019, something which she has previously spoken about on the show and in her self-help book This Girl Is on Fire.

The 51-year-old then got emotional as she revealed she's decided to take a risk in her career and leave the popular daytime show.

She said, "You get one life, are you living it the way that you want? Are you doing everything you want to do? Are you being brave? Are you taking chances? And I realised - no.

Although Andrea didn't exactly reveal what her next career path would involve, she went on to say, “I didn’t think I was going to cry. I’ve told you ladies just before we came on air. I’m going to be leaving Loose Women because I want to be brave... all the incredible feedback that I had from my book and the support I was able to give them, 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 am saying goodbye to Loose Women.”

CHECK OUT everything you need to know about the Loose Women cast

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Closer Loose Women cast - Slider with cover pic

Loose Women1 of 19
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Swipe through to find out all about your favourite Loose Women...

Ruth Langsford2 of 19
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Loose Women: Ruth Langsford

Ruth Langsford has been on Loose Women on and off since its inception in 1999. Featuring as a guest panellist in 1999, she became a regular in 2000 for a year. She returned in 2009 until 2010, before being made a presenter in 2012 and now anchors the show when she's on - sitting in the all important first seat.Ruth also guest hosts This Morning on Fridays with her husband Eamonn Holmes, and stands in for regular presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield during holidays.

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Loose Women: Andrea McLean

Andrea McLean has been a presenter since 2007. Of all the current Loose Women, she's the most prolific - having appeared in a whopping 1,139 episodes as of 25 April 2018. She serves as the main presenter when on the show.Aside from Loose Women, Andrea was formerly a weather presenter on GMTV for 10 years, and was also a contestant on Dancing On Ice in its first year back in 2006.

Christine Lampard4 of 19
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Loose Women: Christine Lampard

Christine Lampard (formerly Bleakley) is the third regular anchor of the show and also enjoys first-seat responsibilities. Having joined the show as a presenter in 2016, Christine has appeared in a respectable 59 episodes of the show as of 25 April 2018 - but she's got a bit of catching up to Andrea to do!She first became well known after presenting BBC's The One Show alongside Adrian Chiles in 2007, leaving the show in 2010. She presented Dancing On Ice from 2012 to 2014 with Phillip Schofield after Holly Willoughby left, and she occasionally stands in for Lorraine Kelly on her show.

Kaye Adams5 of 19
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Loose Women: Kaye Adams

Kaye Adams is one of the longest-serving members of Loose Women who still appears on the show, having originally joined in 1999. Having started out her Loose Life on the show as a main presenter, she left in 2006, but returned as a panellist in 2013. The Scottish journalist presents The Kaye Adams Show on BBC Radio Scotland every weekday from 9am to 12pm, and also took part in Celebrity Masterchef in 2008.

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Loose Women: Jane Moore

Jane Moore is also a long-standing member of the Loose Women panel, having joined the show in 1999 too. After leaving in 2002, she also returned in 2013 along with Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and Coleen Nolan.Alongside her Loose duties, Jane is a columnist for The Sun newspaper, and also appears on The Andrew Marr Show as a newspaper reviewer.

Nadia Sawalha7 of 19
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Loose Women: Nadia Sawalha

Yet another returnee, Nadia was also an original panellist - joining the show in 1999 when it first started. After leaving in 2002, she returned in 2013 along with Kaye Adams and Jane Moore.Aside from Loose Women, Nadia is best known for her two-year stint in EastEnders as Annie Palmer, and forging a new culinary career following her Celebrity MasterChef win in 2009. She's also competed on Dancing On Ice and Celebrity Big Brother.

Coleen Nolan8 of 19
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Loose Women: Coleen Nolan

Coleen Nolan first appeared on Loose Women in 2000, before returning in 2004 until 2011. She rejoined the cast in 2013, along with Kaye Adams, Jane Moore and Nadia Sawalha. After Andrea McLean, she is the most prolific Loose Women, having appeared in 1,111 episodes as of 25 April 2018.Coleen rose to fame as part of her family's singing group, The Nolans, along with her sister Linda Nolan who also frequently appears on the show. She took part in Dancing On Ice in 2009, and was also previously a presenter on This Morning. Coleen has also been in the Celebrity Big Brother twice, first coming runner-up in 2012, and winning in 2017.

Janet Street-Porter9 of 19
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Loose Women: Janet Street-Porter

Janet Street-Porter has been a regular face on the Loose Women panel since 2011. Known for her sharp tongue, Janet has appeared in 554 episodes of the show as of 25 April 2018. Janet, who was awarded a CBE in 2016 for services to journalism and broadcasting, has previously worked in fashion magazines. She took part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004 and came third in Celebrity MasterChef in 2013.

Linda Robson10 of 19
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Loose Women: Linda Robson

Linda Robson first appeared as a guest panellist on Loose Women in 2003, having brief stints in 2010 and 2011 before joining full-time in 2012. Best known as Tracey Stubbs in Birds of a Feather between 1989 and 1998 as well as taking part in the reboot in 2014, Linda also had a stint in the I'm A Celeb! jungle in 2012.

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Loose Women: Gloria Hunniford

Gloria Hunniford has appeared as a regular panellist on Loose Women since 2014, having previously appeared as a guest panellist in 2003 too. At 78, Gloria is the oldest current panellist on the show.No stranger to the TV circuit, Gloria took part in Strictly Come Dancing 2005, making it to Week 3 before being voted out.

Penny Lancaster12 of 19
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Loose Women: Penny Lancaster

Penny has been a Loose Woman since 2014, having previously never been on the show before. Penny had a big moment on the show in 2017 in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal when she bravely revealed that she'd been drugged and raped as a teenager - and a virgin.Best known as a model, Penny is also well-known for being the wife of Rod Stewart, with whom she shares two children. She also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, leaving in the sixth week.

Saira Khan13 of 19
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Loose Women: Saira Khan

Saira Khan first joined the Loose Women cast in 2015 alongside Katie Price. She too revealed on Loose Women that she'd been sexually assaulted as a young girl, and helped to raise awareness for the issue.Saira first rose to fame after competing on the first ever series of The Apprentice in 2005, coming second. She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in July 2016, and was the second to be voted out.

Katie Price14 of 19
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Loose Women: Katie Price

Katie Price joined the cast of Loose Women in 2015 alongside Saira Khan, having previously been a guest panellist in 2011 and 2014. However, her status as a Loose Woman is under scrutiny at the moment as she hasn't appeared on the show since January.Pricey is of course, well known outside of Loose Women. She first became known as a glamour model under the alias Jordan in 1996, first appearing on Page 3 of The Sun at the age of 18. Since then, she's become a reality star in her own right, and her relationships are often the subject of tabloid speculation.

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Loose Women: Stacey Solomon

Stacey Solomon first joined the Loose Women in 2016 after appearing as a guest panellist between 2011 and 2012. The mum-of-two joined the show alongside Lisa Riley and Anne Diamond.Stacey won her celebrity status after competing in The X Factor in 2009 at the age of 20. She came third in the competition. Stacey became Queen of the Jungle in the 2010 series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, and is currently in a relationship with former King of the Jungle, Joe Swash.

Lisa Riley16 of 19
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Loose Women: Lisa Riley

Lisa Riley became a Loose Woman in 2016 alongside Stacey Solomon and Anne Diamond. The former Emmerdale actress was absent from the show for a number of months after undergoing surgery to remove excess skin following a 12-stone weight loss.Lisa was well-loved as Emmerdale's Mandy Dingle, playing the role for over seven years. She also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, and is known for being the standout star of the competition that series.

Anne Diamond17 of 19
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Loose Women: Anne Diamond

Anne Diamond joined the Loose Women panel in 2016 with Lisa Riley and Stacey Solomon. She's a lesser-spotted Loose Woman, having only appeared in 58 shows as of 25 April 2018. Anne carved her career in journalism, hosting Good Morning Britain and is a regular columnist for the Daily Mail. Having tragically lost her third child, Anne successfully campaigned for research into cot death, and reportedly cut cot deaths in the UK from 2,000 to 300. She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002, and was the second to be evicted.

Denise Van Outen18 of 19
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Loose Women: Denise Van Outen

Denise Van Outen joined the cast of Loose Women full time in 2017, having been a guest panellist in 2014 and 2017 previously. Although she is relatively new to the show, she's already won a place in the hearts of Loose Women viewers.Denise has been on various TV shows in her time, but most notably took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012 with fellow Loose Woman Lisa Riley. She made it to the final of the show with her partner James Jordan, and they finished as runners-up to Louis Smith.

Kelly Brook19 of 19
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Loose Women: Kelly Brook

Kelly Brook is the most recent addition to the Loose Women panel, having joined the show in 2018. She has previously appeared on the show as a guest.Kelly is best known for her modelling career which began when she was age 16. She is also a regular panellist on Celebrity Juice, and also took a turn on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.

Fans of the show were quick to express their sadness at Andrea's shock departure, with many wishing her the best of luck in her new venture.

One Twitter user wrote, "Oh Andrea, you will be missed. Good luck in all that you do."

Another added, "She will smash it, good luck hun everyone loves your honesty and compassion, such a lovely lady xxxx," with a third adding, "Noooo.... you're the reason I watch!!! Only calm sensible one on there 😂Please rethink😢."

WATCH Andrea McLean, Nadia Sawahla and Saira Khan reveal (tipsy) Loose Women secrets

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Speaking about the support ITV have given her, Andrea said on air, “I have been anchoring Loose Women for 13 years now and I have been part of ITV daytime for 23 and actually the team have been so wonderful [saying] ‘Can we help, can we give you less days so you can focus on your business?’

"I am not saying goodbye to telly either… You just never know unless you try, I just want to put myself out there, see what the universe has in store, help as many women as I possibly can in whatever that means but for now it means with my website and all the love and effort that I am putting into that, that will be my focus.”

Although it hasn't yet been confirmed when Andrea will leave the show, her co-stars were quick to reveal she won't be going anywhere without a proper send off.

Loose Women continues everyday on ITV.

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