FORMER Loose Women star Andrea McLean broke down in tears as she confirmed her plans to quit the UK for Spain.
The TV favourite, 55, is starting a new life abroad after her business folded and she nearly died from pneumonia and sepsis.
Last night The Sun exclusively revealed Andrea is upping sticks and now she has opened up about her departure to fans.
Speaking from her home surrounded by boxes, she said: "I've had a bit of a shocker over the last few years, not only health wise but obviously my business failing."
Andrea then grew emotional as she said: "What is made me realise is, oh gosh, you only get one shot and you have to seize the day."
Her husband Nick then stepped in to give her a comforting hug.
She continued: "I've always wanted to live by the sea and in the sun, so that's what we're doing. The timing, of course, is not perfect. There's never a perfect moment.
"What I realised at the start of this year is you don't know how many moments you have left. You have to seize them."
Focusing on the positives, she said: "It's a good thing. It's scary. No idea how things are going to pan out, but I've always been brave."
Andrea signed off by sharing her desire to learn to paddleboard and do it everyday.
The dramatic life change comes five months after her empowerment brand, This Girl Is On Fire, was dissolved after failing to make money, despite a hefty investment from the sale of her Surrey home.
Around the same time the business was wound down, Andrea revealed she came terrifyingly close - just 24 hours - to dying after being struck down with pneumonia and sepsis.
Loose Women star faints and is left with nasty black eye - hours after Lorraine Kelly sports shiner on TV
Her move abroad will allow her to focus on her writing career, having already published three bestsellers - This Girl Is On Fire, Confessions of a Good Girl and Confessions of a Menopausal Woman.
A television favourite for more than two decades, Andrea previously told how her endorsement deals dried up overnight when she announced she was quitting Loose Women in 2020 to focus on her business.
Suddenly, the money she was planning on using to fund the early days of the brand disappeared.
She said: ''On the day that I announced I was leaving, every brand dropped me... so I went from, 'OK I knew I had this amount of money coming in and this much work that will see me through to the next six to eight months,' it disappeared overnight.
''That’s how big a deal moving away from TV is. It was financially like a punch in the stomach, my safety net was gone. I was like, 'Oh my god I only have my savings. I can't turn back and change my mind. I have no other income.'"
Andrea turned to the stock market after selling her home and moving into a six-bedroom rental, but it remains unknown what sort of return she made.
The most recent accounts for her former business published in December 2023 showed it had just £292 in assets.
Her decision to leave Loose Women behind came after she suffered a nervous breakdown.
Announcing her exit live on air, she said: "Last year I had a nervous breakdown and what I felt was this year, collectively, the world had a breakdown and the experience I had means that this year I was mentally really strong to deal with everything that the pandemic threw at us.
"But it made me stop and think: 'What do I actually want?' If there is anything that can show us you only get one life…
"Are you living it the way you want? Doing everything you want to do? Being brave and taking chances? And I realised no."
Through all her hardship, Andrea has had husband Nick by her side and now the pair are committed to starting a new chapter in sunny Spain.
5
5
