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<\/p>\nAfter sensationally quitting Loose Women to start a doomed business, Andrea McLean lost everything including her home. But she says rock bottom only made her marriage stronger<\/p>\n
09:00, 19 May 2026Updated 09:00, 19 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Nick Feeney and Andrea McLean, who married in 2017(Image: Mike Marsland\/WireImage)<\/p>\n
When Andrea McClean announced she was leaving Loose Women<\/a> live on air in November 2020, the admission shocked fans. But the presenter, 56, who had hosted the ITV<\/a> show for 13 years, assured viewers that the sky was the limit for her fledgling business, the wellness, retail, and life-coaching platform, This Girl is on Fire. But it wasn\u2019t to be.<\/p>\n Flash forward to 2026, and Andrea has revealed to the Mirror<\/a> that her business failed so catastrophically that she lost her home and every penny she had, ending up in debt to a tune of hundreds of thousands<\/a>. \u201cMy personal experience right now is of excruciating shame, as a result of financial ruin,\u201d says Andrea, who was forced to sell her \u00a31m Surrey home and move into rented accommodation.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Loose Women’s Judi Love learnt huge lesson from mum before tragic dementia death<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI lost my home, my pension, all my savings. We maxed out credit cards, there was so little in my bank account, it was minus. I was selling furniture to pay for groceries. There were bailiffs at the door. I went on Indeed and was literally applying for jobs in coffee shops, clothes shops, and for office work. I’ve never been on Tinder, but I assume it was like being on Tinder and nobody swiped right for me. It was literally, nobody cares. I didn\u2019t even get a response.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Feeney and Andrea McLean attend the Children With Cancer Annual Christmas Quiz at The Kings Arms Pub on December 9, 2025 in London(Image: Jed Cullen\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images for Children with Cancer UK)<\/p>\n Andrea and Nick are stronger than ever after a tough few years(Image: Brett Cove\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n But despite incredible adversity, thrice-married Andrea says hitting rock bottom has made her bond to her husband Nick Feeney all the stronger. \u201cThis one is going to stick,\u201d she jokes, keen sense of humour still intact. Andrea has been married to life coach Nick since 2017. She was previously wed to TV presenter Steve Toms from 2009 to 2012, and before that her childhood sweetheart Nick Green from 2000 to 2005. \u201cWhen my last two marriages ended, there was a lot of laying on the floor and crying,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cAnd when I met my husband now, who is the current longest serving Mr McLean, I was done. I was like, \u2018I’m not interested\u2019. This is clearly not what I’m cut out to do. I’m just gonna focus on my garden.<\/p>\n \u201cBut actually I have ended up with someone who is my best friend. It doesn’t sound like a very romantic thing, but actually to be with someone who is the first person you want to tell great news to or the first person you want to moan at when you\u2019ve missed your train – that is love. We sit in silence at night time and send each other funny memes on our phone. That is literally our love language.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re still together throughout it all. We’re still friends. We still love each other and I don’t know many couples who could come through what we\u2019ve been through. We learned to appreciate the free things in life, the little things. Walking the dog along the beach, looking out to sea and chatting about life. It’s not big fancy things, but it fills your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a time not so long ago, however, that Andrea and Nick couldn\u2019t even afford a croissant. As the doomed business tanked, she had a meeting with investors. \u201cThey told me that my \u2018star had faded\u2019,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cNobody was interested anymore. It’s hideous, a horrible feeling. You are still you, a person with a heart and feelings and everything else, but you realise that your worth is not tied up in what your capabilities are. Your worth is tied up in what your currency is seen to be, your value to other people and believe me I now know how fast that currency can go.<\/p>\n Angela was the longest running host of Loose Women before she quit(Image: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n \u201cI remember years ago there was a story about a pop star selling burgers outside of a football thing and people were so mean to them. You wouldn’t sneer at someone in a burger van generally speaking. And so why is it okay to do it because someone who had a different job is now running a burger van?\u201d<\/p>\n Andrea started a media coaching company to stay afloat. But just as her head was finally above water, at the end of 2024, she almost died. \u201cOver Christmas<\/a> and New Year<\/a>, I was feeling really rough. But when you’re really sick, you don’t know how sick you are. I collapsed in the bathroom. I only managed to get help because my husband was downstairs, I was shouting at my phone to call for him,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI got pneumonia, sepsis<\/a> and kidney failure. We were told by the doctors that if I’d waited another day, I’d have died. By that point my wee was brown and that is a sign that your kidneys are shutting down. We felt we hit rock bottom and then we didn’t realise that rock bottom has a trap door and you can still keep falling through it.\u201d<\/p>\n To make ends meet she sold her home and moved into rented accommodation. \u201cI loved that house,\u201d says Andrea, who has two children from previous relationships: a son named Finlay and a daughter named Amy. \u201cIt was the home that I bought when I got divorced. It was my safe space. It was mine. I had also put my heart and soul into the garden because when I got divorced, I went to agricultural college and did a garden design course. When we realised we\u2019d have to sell the house, I thought, \u2018I’ve just got the roses to join over the door. It’s taken me years\u2019. But I very quickly went into practical mode. Aren’t I lucky that I have a house I can sell? Aren’t I lucky that I can do this? It\u2019s fine. I’ll get another house.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrea McLean with son Finlay John and daughter Amy(Image: PA Archive\/Press Association Images)<\/p>\n Third time’s a charm, for loved-up Andrea and Nick(Image: WireImage)<\/p>\n Andrea has now put pen to paper to write a new book, Shameless: Finding Freedom and Resilience Through Failure, in which she lays bare her money woes and unpacks other areas of shame she\u2019s experienced throughout her life.<\/p>\n \u201cMoney is one of the last real taboos. We’d rather talk about anything else than actually discuss what is in our bank account,\u201d says Andrea. I didn\u2019t want anyone around me to know what was going on with me. I hid it. I couldn\u2019t afford a takeaway coffee, but instead of saying that, I would ask someone for a coffee, say \u2018I\u2019ve just had one\u2019 and then go without.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s finally letting go of shame, she says. \u201cI\u2019ve had shame my whole life. I was told it would be career suicide to talk about menopause, I was shamed for marrying three times. And leaving Loose Women<\/a> I fell from a great height. I was totally humiliated. In terms of public embarrassment, I told the whole country that I was going to do something and it didn’t work. How embarrassing is that? I lost everything, my health, my home. But I\u2019ve come out the other side.<\/p>\n \u201cI will always just keep going. Always. Because what’s the other option? There is no other option. I still have a family to support. I still have kids who need me. People may say, \u2018Oh, for God’s sake, that’s just that woman off the telly. What does she know about hardship?\u2019 but I can truly say, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n *Shameless: Finding Freedom and Resilience Through Failure by Andrea McLean is published by DK RED, out 21 May<\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Children-With-Cancer-Annual-Christmas-Quiz.jpg\")
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