Andrea McLean’s dog died the day she left Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins

Andrea McLean has revealed she was heartbroken after completing Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins because her beloved dog died on the day she departed the show.

The Loose Women host took part in the gruelling show for Stand Up To Cancer but her triumph was cut short when she learned of her pooch Jackson’s death.

The 49-year-old admitted there was “a whole lot going on” in her head after the bad news.

Speaking about returning home after the seven-day process in Chile, the presenter told Metro online: “It really did impact me actually when I got back because you land back to reality, and it sounds like such a small thing but actually it was huge, the day I got out my dog died.”

She added: “My dog is a huge part of my life, and dealing with that over the phone, calming down the children, sorting them out, and walking into the house and the dog that I’d had throughout, to open the door and he wasn’t there, I was dealing with that as well. So there was a whole lot going on in my head.”

Read more: Andrea McLean forced to referee Jane Moore and Kaye Adams row on Loose Women

The mum-of-two explained that the ordeal also made her feel she wasn’t setting the best example for her children because she held in her feelings.

“What it made me realise is that, as a mum, you try and lead by example with your children. ‘Talk to me if something’s bothering you, don’t bottle it up,’ and then I realised actually I’m not leading by example. So this has actually been really good for me,” she said.

Last month, Andrea admitted on Loose Women that she has suffered with panic attacks due to anxiety in the past.

She underwent a series of mentally and physically tough challenges for the Channel 4 show to raise funds for Stand Up To Cancer.

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What a brilliant day spending time with these lovely people again at the press screening of @sas.whodareswins The funniest bit was seeing @ollie.ollerton @jason_carl_fox @antmiddleton in their civvies not shouting at us to climb, run, jump, squat, push up or get down! It was the toughest, most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and pushed me further mentally and physically than I have ever gone – but that’s exactly why I did it. To show that a women pushing 50 is still capable of pushing through personal barriers. I may not be the fastest or strongest but I put myself out there and gave it my best, every time. We all did. I proper love our gang – @dev @jeffbrazier Louise Mench @victorilou @ajodudu @waynebridge03 @samthompsonuk @jeremy.irvine So sorry that @heatherfish29 @camillathurlow and @ben_foden couldn’t be there today – missed you guys. @channel4 #saswhodareswins #standuptocancer

A post shared by Andrea McLean (@andreamclean1) on Mar 26, 2019 at 7:46am PDT

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Andrea was joined by other celebrities including presenter Jeff Brazier and Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton as they competed to see if they have what it takes to pass SAS standards.

She also said she was motivated to do the show “for menopausal women everywhere to show actually we can still do this”.

See how Andrea and the rest of the celebs got on this Sunday on Channel 4 at 9pm.

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