Loose Women's Andrea McLean branded 'old and insignificant' over menopause book

ok.co.uk:

Andrea McLean shared her own story at the event and recalled memories of her mum’s experience of the menopause when Andrea was a teen.This is not the first time the 53-year-old former GMTV and Loose Women presenter has revealed how having a hysterectomy in 2016 led to her experiencing menopausal symptoms.

Andrea has already written a book about it – Confessions Of A Menopausal Woman – and in 2018 she also launched the website This Girl Is On Fire that tackles the menopause and other subjects important to women. “It’s a community for women, to help them build up their self-belief and their self-love,” says mother-of-two Andrea, at the Menopause Monologues Boots event, about the website. “I help women every single day – not just menopausal women, all women, and I love it.” Andrea’s own menopause journey began in September 2016 following years of suffering with endometriosis.

She was preparing to take an break from presenting ITV’s Loose Women so she could be admitted to hospital for a full hysterectomy. “It was just before my last show for a while, and I’m sitting with Linda Robson and she said, ‘What are you going to say?’ and I said, ‘I’m not going to say anything,’” she remembers. “Linda said, ‘sweetheart, you’ve got to say something because people will think you’ve been fired.’ “So fast forward an hour or so, and we’re live on air.

We’re coming to the last 30 seconds of the show and it’s live telly, and Linda Robson can see I’m totally fudging it and she knows I’m not going to say anything.