Loose Women announce replacement for former host Andrea McLean and fans are thrilled

Loose Women have revealed who will replace Andrea McLean on the ITV panel show - confirming that Charlene White is set to be the new host.

The ITV (opens in new tab) news anchor made her debut on the show, taking over from recently departed Andrea after 13 years on the show.

Charlene, 40, is no stranger to the show - having successfully hosted the daytime hit last year she was welcomed into her a more permanent position with a montage of her best bits so far - and it's expected there'll be many more to come.

Charlene revealed she was "buzzing" about her new role.

"This is rather exciting, isn’t it?... I’m officially a Loose Woman," Charlene told her fellow panelists, Nadia Sawalha (opens in new tab) and Stacey Solomon (opens in new tab).

"I am honestly absolutely stoked. I have been buzzing all this time to be able to reveal that I am the latest and the newest Loose Woman."

To which Nadia replied, "We’re all so happy you’re here," and Stacey added, "I've been waiting to do this show with you for ages! You're one of us now!"

Charlene was born and raised in London and began her career as a broadcast journalist. She worked in TV and radio news for the BBC before joining ITN as a newscaster. In April 2014 she became the first Black woman to present ITV News at Ten and she’s well known as one of the most familiar faces of the ITV News bulletins.

Meanwhile Andrea quit Loose Women in December after admitting she wanted to be "brave" and explained that she was leaving to do some more work with her website.

Struggling to speak at the end of her final show, Andrea said, "Can I just say, being on Loose Women is like a real-life soap opera. It really, really is. There's highs, there's lows, there's drama, everything else. I'm like the landlady of the Rovers Return! I'm just handing over my bar, but I'll be back for my Chardonnay."

Fans are delighted about her replacement. One fan tweeted, 'To be quite honest I want to see @CharleneWhite on EVERYTHING.' 

Another fan said, 'I hope we get a more adult show now. It’s got really silly over the years. Often a poor portrayal of women. We have This Morning and Lorraine for light-hearted entertainment. Need a more intelligent show.'

And a third added, 'Congrats! I had a feeling your short stint last year was going to become a permanent place.'

After her first show aired, Charlene took to Twitter and wrote, 'Wow... slightly overwhelmed by all the very kind messages, thanks so much! I’m so excited to join the @loosewomen ladies as the new host. Both on and off screen it’s a talented team who are a joy to work with. (And for those asking, I’m still very much part of the @itvnews team!)