Andrea McLean leaves Loose Women to 'be brave' after breakdown

McLean made her first appearance on Loose Women in 2007

Andrea McLean has announced on air she is "saying goodbye to Loose Women" after 13 years presenting the ITV show.

The 51-year-old wiped away tears as she told viewers she would leave the lunchtime talk show at Christmas.

"Last year I had a nervous breakdown," she said on Monday's programme. "What I felt is that this year, collectively, the world has had a breakdown.

"It made me stop and think, 'What do I actually want?' You get one life, are you living it the way that you want?"

She went on: "Are you doing everything that you want to do? Are you being brave? Are you taking chances? And I realised, no."

McLean joined the show in 2007 and is one of its main hosts. She said it was her decision to leave to concentrate on her website and brand.

It was a "big decision to jump" but that she would never know if she would "fall or fly" unless she tried, she explained.

McLean is the author of three books, including 2018's Confessions of a Menopausal Woman, and the co-founder of a female empowerment site called This Girl Is On Fire.

This Girl Is On Fire is also the name of her most recent book, which was published earlier this year with the subtitle How to Live, Learn and Thrive in a Life You Love.

While promoting the book on Loose Women in September, McLean spoke about the nervous breakdown she had while filming Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2019.

"Some really traumatic things that have happened to me in my life... I had put them in a box," she told her co-presenters.

"When I did [Celebrity] SAS the box opened and I couldn't get everything back in again. That's what I was dealing with."

Before joining Loose Women, McLean was a weather presenter for GMTV and competed in the 2006 series of Dancing On Ice.

'Changing of the guard'

Monday also saw ITV confirm a long-rumoured shake-up on This Morning that will see Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond replace Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford as hosts on Fridays from 8 January.

ITV said Holmes and his co-presenter wife would continue to host the morning magazine show "during key holidays".

Langsford confirmed the "changing of the guard" on Twitter, saying it was "Au Revoir until the next half term".

O'Leary and Hammond were seen co-hosting This Morning in October

Hammond said it was "a huge privilege and honour" to co-host the programme "alongside the lovely Dermot".

The 45-year-old embarked on a media career after competing on the third UK series of Big Brother in 2002.

O'Leary said he was "deeply thrilled and honoured to be joining the This Morning team" and that he and Hammond had "huge shoes to fill".

The 47-year-old is best known for his presenting role on ITV's The X Factor and hosts a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2.

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will continue to host This Morning for the rest of the week.