LOOSE Women star Andrea McLean has swapped the UK for Spain after selling her £1m home and nearly dying.
The successful author and TV star, 55, has had a tough time of it since quitting the ITV daytime show in 2020 to run her female empowerment brand, This Girl Is On Fire.
The business was dissolved in February of this year after failing to make money, despite a hefty investment from the sale of Andrea's 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.
Now she's seeking a fresh start and focusing 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 source said: "It’s been a tough couple of years and the business never financially recovered. Andrea made the decision to dissolve the business officially earlier this year.
"Now she’s planning a new life in Spain with husband Nick [Feeney]. After she nearly died, Andrea’s focused on what really matters - family and friends.
"She’s in a really good place, positive, loved up with Nick still, her kids are all grown up so she’s happy and making life work for her."
The Sun has contacted a representative for Andrea for comment.
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 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.
