Andrea McLean has opened up exclusively to HELLO! about how her Loose Women co-stars reacted to the news that she had secretly suffered a breakdown.
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The TV presenter admitted her colleagues had a "mixed" reaction, with some coming forward to help. Saira Khan, in particular, was "incredible", said Andrea, revealing: "She rang me and said, 'I feel like I wasn't a good friend to you because I didn't push you hard enough.
"I asked how you were and you said you were fine and I never asked you again and actually, I feel like I've let you down. So what can I do to make it up to you and how can I pass on what you're saying to me?'"
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Andrea, who has written about her ordeal and experience of having suicidal thoughts in her new book, This Girl Is on Fire: How to Live, Learn and Thrive in a Life You Love, added: "Denise Welch has been wonderful, Linda Robson has been wonderful.
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"Everyone's different and by naming some and not naming others, that doesn't mean anything. I'm just saying the ones off the top of my head. But that's normal in a friendship group. Some people are embarrassed and just don't know what to say, and that's normal too."
Saira Khan was "incredible", Andrea said
Andrea noted: "And obviously remember this is work, so some people still don't know what to make of it but the ones that count have stepped forward and that's been really nice. They've got in touch, and messaged me and rang me, and we've spoken about it."
In our exclusive sit-down interview at her Surrey home, Andrea, who turned 51 on Monday, also revealed that her husband Nick Feeney didn't know the extent of her suicidal feelings. At the beginning of her book, the author describes being in her hotel room and wanting to end it all.
Andrea admitted Nick didn't know the full extent of her suicidal thoughts
"Nick didn't know I had put it in, he didn't even know it had happened. I hadn't mentioned it at all. I think it was quite a shock for him," said Andrea. "But I felt it was important to put in because that was a huge part of having a breakdown.
"The crux of the book is that it doesn't matter what your 'it' is, we all have our different thing and mine is not more important than anyone else's. I think that's why it was important that I didn't go into huge detail as well, because otherwise people would think, well I haven't gone through that exactly, so therefore this book isn't for me. It's important that people know it's for all of us because we all have our own thing."
Read Andrea's full interview and see the exclusive photos here.
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