Andrea McLean bares all for Loose Women Body Stories: 'These are my scars and this is who I am’
ANDREA MCLEAN'S BODY STORY 'THESE ARE MY SCARS AND THIS IS WHO I AM'
Andrea was one of nine panellists who stripped off to their swimwear for the Loose Women Body Stories campaign, shot by Bryan Adams.
And she has opened up about the scars left on her body from having children and surgery.
'When I had Finlay in 2001, I needed an emergency Caesarean, and I had another C-section with my daughter Amy. Both procedures left me with scars, and in 2011 I had surgery to correct an umbilical hernia, which left me with another unsightly line down my stomach,' Andrea has revealed.
'The first time I got undressed in front of Nick [Fenney, Andrea's partner of three years] was really nerve-wracking because I was panicking about my stomach,' Andrea explained.
'In the end, I took off my clothes and said: "These are my scars and this is who I am." Nick didn’t say a word, but he’s since admitted he was quite shocked as he’d never seen scars like mine before.'
Andrea had a hysterectomy last September which left her with more scars on her stomach.
'Having so many procedures has left my stomach with a number of brutal scars, and this photo shoot is the first time I’ve revealed all of them,' she said.
'There’s something empowering about baring everything and saying: "This is me, accept it or don’t.’
'I think it’s really important not to pretend we’re all perfect,' Andrea said. 'From under my boobs down to my pubic area I have a lot of scars - from my C-sections, operations to do with pregnancy and my hysterectomy scars.'
'With this shoot I’m revealing my scars. It’s the first time and it has been weird,' Andrea admitted.
'I hope people see the pictures for what they are; real women, not edited or airbrushed, letting their body tell their story. Since the shoot my confidence has really increased.'
Read more about Loose Women Body Stories here. #MyBodyMyStory
Tune in on Tuesday 2 May to watch Bryan Adams talk about the photoshoot and find out more about our Loose Women Body Stories campaign.