Presenter’s new partner ‘terrified’ to meet co-stars
TV presenter Andrea McLean has said boyfriend Nick Feeney was terrified of meeting her fellow Loose Women panellists.
The Glasgow-born star of ITV’s flagship afternoon series opened up about her relationship during an interview with Hello! magazine.
The couple, who have four children between them from previous marriages, were set up on a blind date.
They kept their relationship quiet for a year before going public in 2015.
On the subject of businessman Feeney’s introduction to the other Loose Women, she said: “He was terrified.
“But the ladies were lovely to him, especially Linda Robson who calls herself Nana Linda and is my surrogate nana.
“She was over the moon and said, ‘I’m so happy you’ve found love again and are being looked after by a nice man’.”
McLean’s first marriage was to childhood sweetheart Nick Green, a TV producer with whom she has a son.
She wed builder Steve Toms, the father of her daughter, in 2009 after working with him on home makeover series Our House. The couple had generated headlines due to the affair they had years earlier while McLean was still married to Green.
The marriage to Toms broke down in 2011.
McLean, 46, who has also stepped in for Lorraine Kelly on her LK Today show, told Feeney about her past on their first date.
She said: “After a few drinks, we were getting on so well and as we relaxed in each other’s company, I told him everything about my life, all the ups and the downs and the poor guy sat there in shock.
“My thinking was that he could go home, Google my name on the internet and find all kinds of inaccurate nonsense.”
The former GMTV weathergirl added: “I wanted him to hear the truth from me first.”
Feeney said: “I vowed never to Google her name and I never have. If I have a question, I just ask her direct.”
After two divorces McLean did not think she would find happiness.
The mother of two said: “I never thought I’d feel like this again, that I’d fall in love and get the chance to start a new life.
“It’s been a revelation for him, too. Because we make each other so happy, it’s changed our lives.
“So many people have commented on how much more positive I’ve become since I met him. Thanks to Nick, I’m looking forwards.”
McLean was born in Scotland but spent her early years in Trinidad and Tobago. Her family returned to her homeland when she was 15, later moving to north west England.