Loose Women star 'fell apart' on reality TV series and ordered scene to be axed from show
Andrea McLean has opened up about the difficult time she had on the celebrity version of SAS Who Dares Wins and revealed how she demanded for one moment to never be shown on TV
Andrea McLean has opened up about a harrowing experience she had on a reality TV show, revealing that she "fell apart" during the filming process. The Loose Women star shared her ordeal with Laura Hamilton on the Mile Fly Club podcast on September 22, explaining how she insisted that the episode never be aired.
In 2019, Andrea took part in the celebrity edition of SAS Who Dares Wins, but had to withdraw from the physically challenging programme due to hypothermia. However, she also went through another distressing event involving a simulated kidnapping.
The TV presenter was blindfolded and taken to an unknown location by boat. Upon arrival, someone forcefully removed the bag from her head and looked into her eyes with what she described as hatred.
She said this person reminded her of someone from her past who had given her a similar look. Andrea then revealed that she later "fell apart" during a combat segment of the experience, which did not go unnoticed by the show's directing staff (DS).
Andrea confessed: "It was like feelings that just exploded out of me. What's interesting...when I look on the TV show now, I have no expression on my face. You would not know that's what's happening."
Andrea revealed: "Then we, as part of the programme, there's a fighting part to it where you have to...and I fell apart during it and the DS saw that, and they hauled me in for interrogation and basically really intensely interrogated me over my reaction to what had happened.
"Now, what I ended up talking to them about, I made it really clear this is not for public viewing so they've been very good and they never showed it, but I explained what my situation had been. And to be fair to all of them, they were actually very kind and very supportive.
"And my experience after that, whilst it was brutal, and it was tough, and I ended up getting hypothermia, and I had to leave the show, actually, they were incredibly kind and supportive to me whilst shouting, whilst screaming, whilst doing all the things."
The TV presenter was put through her paces on the show, which replicates the notoriously tough SAS Selection test. Andrea has previously spoken about how she was left shaken after being interrogated by former soldier Mark 'Billy' Billingham.
She recounted the experience to Chris Evans on Virgin Radio: "It was because all of these experiences I had, I've done what so many of us do. I put them in a box and buried it in the garden."
She continued to say that she'd put a "tree on top of that box" and it was no longer part of her life but to "have that happen" was "just so unexpected".