When Andrea McLean walked back onto the Loose Women set for the first time in half a decade, viewers expected nostalgia.
What they did not expect was a confession so harrowing, so life-altering, that even her former co-hosts sat frozen in silence.
Because Andrea — once the steady heartbeat of the ITV panel — revealed that just months ago, she was 24 hours from death.
And nobody, not even she, realised how close the clock had come to stopping.
“It All Went Downhill… Slowly and All at Once”
“It All Went Downhill… Slowly and All at Once”Sitting between Charlene White, Coleen Nolan, Katie Piper and Jane Moore, the 56-year-old looked calm. Composed. Radiant even.
But the story she told was anything but.
“At the end of last year and the start of this one, I was hospitalised with severe pneumonia, kidney failure and sepsis.”
Her voice trembled as she said it.
Three diagnoses — any one of which could have been catastrophic — hit her body simultaneously.
She continued:
“If we’d waited another 24 hours, I wouldn’t have made it.”
A single day.
One more sunrise, and Andrea McLean might not have woken up to see it.
Three Months Between Life and Death
Three Months Between Life and DeathFor weeks, Andrea drifted in and out of hospital corridors, tests, IV drips, machines.
Doctors monitored her slipping lungs — one of which she revealed is now 80% damaged.
“Everything was shutting down. I wasn’t even well enough to understand what was happening. My husband was the one hearing the truth.”
Nick Feeney, her partner of 12 years and husband of eight, carried the weight of every terrifying update.
“My Hair Started Falling Out” — The Hidden Aftershocks
“My Hair Started Falling Out” — The Hidden AftershocksBeyond the life-threatening infections, Andrea opened up about a symptom she’d been hiding from the public:
“My hair started falling out. What you saw on old clips… wasn’t my hair. I bought it.”
The antibiotics were so strong, her real hair couldn’t hold on.
Eventually, she told her stylist:
“Take it all off. Chop it. I need to start again.”
A symbolic reset — for a woman who had just been given a second chance at life.
A Marriage That Survived Collapse, Business Failure… and Now This
A Marriage That Survived Collapse, Business Failure… and Now ThisAndrea admitted the illness came during an already painful chapter.
After leaving Loose Women in 2020 to run her wellness business, Covid hit — and the company collapsed.
She and Nick were rebuilding emotionally and financially when her health crisis erupted.
“We’ve been through so many tests as a couple. But if you can still smile at each other… you’ve got something rare.”
Their reunion on screen felt like a victory forged in fire.
From a Nervous Breakdown to a New Life in Spain
From a Nervous Breakdown to a New Life in SpainAndrea’s return also reignited the heartbreak of her 2020 exit, when she tearfully admitted:
“I had a nervous breakdown in 2019. Then the world had one in 2020.”
Her decision to leave the UK and move to Spain was born from that moment — a deliberate step away from collapse and toward clarity.
Now, standing on the panel again, she represents something different:
Not the Andrea who left.
But the Andrea who survived.
A Homecoming With a Warning — and a Message of Hope
A Homecoming With a Warning — and a Message of HopeHer appearance wasn’t just a TV return.
It was a testimony.
A warning about how quickly life can fall apart…
And a quiet celebration of how fiercely it can be rebuilt.
Andrea McLean walked into Loose Women as a woman who had stared death in the face — and walked back.
And viewers across the country felt the weight of her words:
“If we’d waited 24 hours… I wouldn’t be here.”
A reminder to treasure the hours we’re given.