Andrea McLean has opened up about a very challenging six months that saw her bedbound after contracting Covid.
The former Loose Women star, 53, contracted coronavirus three times and then the flu and has now shared her experience.
In a new interview, Andrea revealed that after she caught Covid she had been ill for six months, which she described as a “rough” time.
READ MORE: Loose Women host halts ITV show live on air to deliver ‘heartbreaking’ news
But then around Christina’s time, she got “absolutely throttled” by the flu which lead to her being tested for lupus.
She then went on to reveal that doctors instead found out that she had long Covid. However, she wasn’t sure what to do with the diagnosis.
Despite the “rough” past few months, Andrea is starting to feel better and is able to exercise again.
Speaking to Bella Magazine, Andrea also said she was shocked that she became so ill due to being “already healthy”.
She explained: “I was doing everything that you’re supposed to do, which was particularly unfair. But what I am really appreciative of is my leisure, because until you have something that is so debilitating you cannot walk the length of yourself.
“People say ‘Oh I’m exhausted’, but what I’ve experienced defies the definition of tired. I’d no energy – it’s really hard to feel energised. The simple things like going for a walk – I’d be getting further and further behind Nick, to the point where I’d have to say ‘can you stop for a minute’ it’s things like that.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Andrea also claimed that due to not being able to exercise as much, she had put on weight – something she says she knew had happened not from weighing herself but because she could “feel it.”
She also admitted how she had gotten to a point where she used to the way her “life was now” – calling it a “life lesson.”
Andrea starred on Loose Women between 2007 and 2020 until she decided to walk away after suffering from a nervous breakdown and wanting to pursue other things.
After her famous exit, Andrew told The Sun she was “nervous” to leave Loose Women for fear of not being able to pay her bills.
(Image: ITV)
Andrea revealed: “I was nervous about leaving Loose Women as anyone who has become known for doing something, whether you’re a bank manager or a footballer, that’s your identity.
“I was worried as this was a job I had done for so long, who am I if I’m not this thing?
“I was nervous about leaving, in terms of the identity, in terms of paying the bills, but when you’re too scared to make a decision because you’re so scared of what might go wrong and it paralyses you from doing anything.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
