Andrea McLean celebrated 10 years on Loose Women today – and her co-hosts made sure she had an anniversary to remember!
As the show got underway, long-term host Andrea was left speechless when colleague Saira Khan revealed she had fantasised about her dog – but little did she know it was all an elaborate hoax to celebrate her decade on the show.
Leaving the entire audience cringing, Saira claimed she’d had dreams about “rolling around in the hay” with her German Shepherd, and then went on to joke that her four-legged friend had “strong back legs” and “perfect teeth!”
But while the rest of the chat show panel were in on the prank, Andrea, who was totally in the dark, looked shocked by the revelation, shouting: “You can’t say that! It’s a dog!”
The baffling conversation started when the panel began talking about marrying pets. Kaye Adams told everyone, “This is weird but I genuinely love my dog and I would have a commitment to my dog! Not the intimate side of things though…” While Saira added, “I personally don’t think you need to stop there!”
As the chat went on, Andrea’s face was a picture. Clearly stunned by the direction the conversation was going in, it looked like she was about to pass out with shock. But before that could happen her co-hosts started to laugh, revealing that the whole thing was a joke to kick off her anniversary celebrations on the show.
Kaye explained: “Of course we wouldn’t be having a conversation about marrying dogs… on the day we mark your ten-year anniversary of being on Loose Women!”
Andrea couldn’t believe it when she suddenly realised her friends were playing a trick on her and she started to laugh – and not to mention look slightly relieved – that Saira didn’t really have fantasies about her canine!
As confetti streamed down from the ceiling, the panellist looked shocked that her co-workers had remembered her anniversary, and burst into tears as she watched a video montage of her time on the show.
Since joining Loose Women in 2007 Andrea has been though some huge life changes – including her separation from her ex-husband as well as her hysterectomy, both of which she talked about on the show.
The video montage also featured some of Andrea’s former co-stars from her time as a GMTV weathergirl, who paid tribute with sweet messages of support. Among the familiar faces were Lorraine Kelly, Eamonn Holmes, Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.
“Andrea, I cannot believe it’s been 10 years, but from the second you sat on those stalls you owned it,” Kate said. Her Good Morning Britain co-host Ben then chimed in: “I always knew you’d be a Loose Women!”
After the celebratory show the team took to Twitter to laugh about the prank, sharing photos of Andrea holding a giant anniversary cake and pictures of Andrea re-enacting her weathergirl days.