ITV’s lunchtime panel show Loose Women descended into chaos as host Andrea McLean walked out, visibly shaken.
The 46-year-old presenter is terrified of spiders and when fellow panellist Kaye Adams thought she’d prank her, Andrea fled.
Kaye asked Andrea to stand away from their desk, keeping her back to them; she then produced a huge remote controlled spider and asked Andrea to come back and sit down.
Andrea was having none of it as her deepest fears kicked in, leaving her pacing about by the studio audience.
She was beckoned back to the desk after the spider had been removed but Andrea said the thought of it still frightened her. “Oh no, no, no, no, I can still see it,” she protested.
Andrea added later: “I’m shaking,” leaving Kaye to read the closing section to the show from the auto cue as Andrea exited stage left.
Some viewers took to social media to say they thought it was a form of bullying.
Let’s hope that the autumn doesn’t bring too many eight-legged friends to Andrea’s home as it could be a fractious few months.