Andrea McLean, previously Green and Toms (born 5 October 1969) is a Scottish television presenter best known for her roles with ITV, currently anchoring Loose Women, since 2007. She shares anchoring duties with Carol Vorderman and Kaye Adams.
Between 1997 and 2008, Andrea was the weather presenter for GMTV.
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[hide] *1 Biography
Biography[edit][]
Although born in Scotland, McLean and her sister were raised in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The family then moved back to Scotland when she was 15,[1] but later settled inChester.[2] She describes her unique accent as a cross between Scottish and Caribbean which at times can be heard quite strongly, despite living in England since the early nineties.
McLean studied for her BA Hons in Modern Studies at Coventry University, and later gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Periodical Journalism. She then took a gap year in Cairns, Australia.[3]
Career[edit][]
McLean started her career as a freelance travel writer in 1993. She joined Central Press Features in May 1994, 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 panelists.[1]
In June 1997, McLean joined GMTV as a weather presenter. Andrea co-hosted GMTV Today with Ben Shephard and Eamonn Holmes, and hosted LK Today in Lorraine Kelly’sabsence. 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,[4] and as a guest panellist on Loose Women for ITV.
After announcing her decision to leave, in November 2008, it was announced that she would be replaced as GMTV weather presenter by the BBC's Kirsty McCabe.[5] McLean presented her final broadcast on 31 December 2008, with a special tribute of her career at GMTV.
In August 2010, she appeared as one of the panellists on ITV's afternoon debate show 3@Three.[6]
Loose Women[edit][]
Main article: Loose Women
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,[7] 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. Kaye Adams joined the show in 2013. Andrea currently co-anchors Loose Women with Vorderman and Adams.
Guest apperances[edit][]
Dancing on Ice[edit][]
Main article: Dancing on Ice
In January 2006, McLean took part in the ITV's reality television ice-skating competition Dancing on Ice, in which she was partnered with professional skater Doug Webster.[8] She 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 rest of the show's run.
Game shows[edit][]
She took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 2 January 2010 and later that year on 13 March she appeared as the Soccerette on Sky Sports Soccer AM.
On 17 November 2013, Andrea appeared in a celebrity edition of The Chase, and won £21,750 for Breast Cancer Care.
Personal life[edit][]
McLean had a 17 year relationship, starting from their teenage years, with BBC producer Nick Green. The couple married in Kenya in 2000, and have a son Finlay John, born October 2001, Kingston, Greater London. In 2004 it came to light that McLean had an affair with fellow Our House presenter Steve Toms,[9] but had returned to her husband to try to resolve issues.[10]
After divorcing Green, she and Toms moved in together, and lived in Ashtead, Surrey; they had a daughter Amy (born November 2006). The couple married in August 2009, during Loose Women's summer break.[11]
In January 2012, McLean announced 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. She now lives with her parents.