Former Loose Women star Andrea McLean has been divorced twice and opened up about how those experiences made her feel on Channel 5’s talk show Vanessa

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Andrea McLean opened up about the reality of going through divorce in an emotional chat on Channel 5(Image: Instagram)

Andrea McLean became emotional during an appearance on Channel 5 talk show Vanessa yesterday as she reflected on the painful aftermath of her divorces. When asked whether divorce makes people happier, the Loose Women star gave a painfully honest response, saying her world “broke apart” after her first marriage ended.

She appeared to tear up as she tried to answer the question, before saying : “I was sitting here quietly thinking, oh boy, oh boy. I’ve been married three times. On the current Mr McLean — sorry Nick, I’m only joking — he’s currently the longest-serving husband, so I’m doing really well with this one.”

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Andrea McLean opened up about the reality of going through divorce in an emotional chat on Channel 5(Image: Instagram)

McLean, 54, explained that while she can joke about it now, divorce has been one of the most painful experiences of her life. “It’s awful. It’s really awful,” she said.

“I married my childhood sweetheart the first time around. We met at school. I sat behind him in geography and thought he was lovely. We were together for a really long time, and when that ended, my world broke apart. It was horrific. I became agoraphobic, I couldn’t leave the house. I felt such a sense of loss.”

Her second divorce, from Our House co-presenter Steve Toms, also left her with deep emotional wounds. She added: “There was such a sense of shame because I’d done it again, you know?”

In the end, McLean met her current husband Nick Feeney on a blind date she hadn’t wanted to go on. “I thought, I’m clearly not cut out for this, so what’s the point? I’d rather be at home,” she confessed.

But over time, and after turning to practical methods for healing by enrolling in an agricultural college for a garden design course, she started to rebuild her confidence.

The presenter spoke about why going back into education helped her so much, explaining: “It was something physical, it had nothing to do with romance. That massively helped. By the time we met, I was me.”

Many fans praised McLean for her vulnerability after the clip was posted on Instagram. One person wrote: “Divorce broke apart my world too — you lose every sense of yourself and have to work so hard to find out who you are now.”

Another encouraged her, saying: “You two are such a lovely couple… the other two rings were just warm-ups for the main event.”

Andrea has previously opened up about how her health affected her relationships. On Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, she recalled being diagnosed with endometriosis in her late 20s while in a long-term relationship with Nick Green.

When she brought up the possibility that she might be infertile, he responded saying he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to marry her. After 11 years together she decided that wasn’t good enough and gave him six months to decide whether to commit to her or walk away.

They married in Kenya in 2000 and welcomed their son Finlay in 2001, but later divorced in 2005. Now McLean has been happily married to Feeney since 2017.