Andrea McLean opens up about the heartbreaking impact of her dog’s death

After recently winning Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Andrea McLean’s triumph became bittersweet when she found out her beloved dog Jackson had died the very same day.

Andrea revealed her news on her social media at the time.

But now, the 49-year-old has opened up about the heartbreaking moment, revealing that there was “a whole lot going on” in her head following the devastating news.

She told the Metro online, “It really did impact me actually when I got back [from filming SAS: Who Dares Wins], 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.”

MORE: Heartbreaking news for Prince Harry and Meghan as his biggest fan Daphne passes away

Revealing how tough that experience was, she said, “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 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.”

Although the mum-of-two tried to hold back her emotions, she admitted that she wasn’t setting the best example to her children, Finlay, 17 and Amy, 12.

“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 bother 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 added.

Andrea took part in the gruelling challenge to fundraise for Stand Up To Cancer, explaining her motivation for enrolling was to prove menopausal women can do anything they put their mind to.

View this post on Instagram

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

“One of the reasons I wanted to do this, and what’s hilarious, is for menopausal women everywhere to show actually we can still do this,” she said.

The show, which was filmed in Chile, also featured other celebrities including Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton and TV presenter Jeff Brazier.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins airs on Channel 4 on Sunday 7 April at 9pm.