Andrea McLean has warned women going through the menopause to be careful after falling pregnant when she thought she could no longer have children. The Loose Women presenter opened up about her experiences in a candid interview with Lorraine Kelly on Thursday, revealing that she was 37 when she started going through the menopause.
"I was 37 when the hot sweats started, mainly at night. I was like 'what?' I got pregnant shortly afterwards - there is a rush of hormones afterwards and you need to be really careful around that time," Andrea said.
Andrea McLean revealed she went through the menopause at 37
The 48-year-old also opened up about going through the change early, and said she had been expecting it as her mother also had an early menopause. But it wasn't until she had a hysterectomy in 2016 that she fully felt the effects. "When I had my hysterectomy in 2016, I nosedived off the cliff and went full on menopausal."
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Andrea has spoken openly about menopause, and sparked controversy by suggesting that menopausal women should wear 'M' badges when using public transport so other passengers would cut them "some slack". On Thursday, she responded to the debate with a statement saying that regardless of whether people agreed with her or not, at least it meant that people were discussing what was previously a "taboo female issue". She wrote: "I'm all for vigorous debate if it increases understanding and tolerance. It's good to talk!"
The mum-of-two opened up about her experiences on ITV's Lorraine
The television presenter welcomed her son Finlay in 2001 with her first husband Nick Green. She welcomed her daughter Amy in 2006 with second husband Steve Toms. She has now found love again with husband Nick Feeney, who she married in 2017, and recently insisted that their relationship was strong enough to survive the "Loose Women curse".
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Andrea told The Mirror: "Once you marry a Loose Woman you have to become a Loose Man, that's how it goes. He's super chilled about it. He's the most relaxed person I know." It was recently suggested that the beloved ITV daytime show was cursed because so many of the Loose Women hosts' relationships have collapsed over the years.