Andrea McLean says Celebrity SAS helped her face 'dark times'

Andrea McLean says \'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins\' helped her face "dark times" from her past.

The \'Loose Women\' presenter - who has previously opened up about battling anxiety - broke down in tears on the show when she relived a terrifying memory from her past but said the experience encouraged her to "keep going".

Andrea told The Sun Online: "I\'ve been through some quite dark times.

"I had no idea that the baggage I had neatly packed away and not looked at for a long time was actually still there.

"I had to tell myself to keep going."\'

The 49-year-old TV presenter - who was the oldest on the show - said the main reason she signed up was because she wanted to test her limits, and she was pleasantly surprised to be on a par with some of the younger contestants.

She said: "The whole reason I wanted to sign up to the show was to see what my limits and capabilities were.

"I never thought I\'d be as fast and strong as the younger people on there. It was more about seeing where my line in the sand was."

\'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins for Stand Up to Cancer\' 2019 puts 12 stars on gruelling seven-day slog which is led by chief instructor and former soldier Ant Middleton.

This year Made in Chelsea\'s Sam Thompson, Love Island\'s Camilla Thurlow, Olympian Victoria Pendleton and sportsman Ben Foden are starring in the show.

And Andrea says Ant\'s tough love helped her find her inner strength and was a "game changer" because it gave her a new positive outlook.

She said: "After my conversation with Ant I realised that my mantra when it got really tough in there was: \'Do I like this? No I don\'t. Can I do it? Yes I can. So just keep going\'.

"That was a game changer for me. In life we normally just carry on with things we like, but actually strength comes from doing things we don\'t like that are uncomfortable and everything is telling you to stop."