Nell McAndrew: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[Belle Isle, Leeds]], [[West Yorkshire]], England, United Kingdom.

| years_active = 1996-present
| spouse = {{marriage|Paul Hardcastle|2004}}

}}</ref>), known as '''Nell McAndrew''', is an English [[Glamour photography|glamour model]], TV presenter and [[fitness trainer]]. She is also an accomplished amateur athlete, with a [[marathon]] personal best time of 2:54:39.<ref name=LM12/>

McAndrew was born in [[Leeds]] on 6 November 1973. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. After leaving school she briefly worked as a clerk for the [[Yorkshire Bank]]. McAndrew went to Middleton park high school.<ref name="bio"/>

McAndrew first signed up with a modelling agency as the result of a suggestion by her hairdresser.<ref name="bio"/> She started her modelling career as a catalogue and magazine model and as a [[Marilyn Monroe]] lookalike. For a modelling assignment in Germany, she was required to shave her head. In the UK, she first appeared on television as one of the hostesses on the game show ''[[Man O Man (British game show)|Man O Man]]'' in 1996. She later appeared in the ''[[Daily Star (United Kingdom)|Daily Star]]'' as a [[Page 3]] girl but it was her role as the [[Lara Croft]] model for the video game ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' between 1998 and 1999 that brought her to the public's attention.<ref name="figures">{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/article401877.ece | work=[[The Times]] | location=London | title=Model shows she's good with figures | date=12 December 2004 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-5minute-interview-nell-mcandrew-modeltv-presenter-853517.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-5minute-interview-nell-mcandrew-modeltv-presenter-853517.html |archive-date=2022-06-18 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | work=[[The Independent]] | location=London | title=The 5-minute Interview: Nell McAndrew, Model/TV presenter | date=25 June 2008 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref> McAndrew was fired from her stint as Croft in 1999 after posing nude for ''[[Playboy]]''. This was partly due to ''Playboy'' printing references to Lara Croft and ''Tomb Raider'' on the cover, which were removed when [[Eidos Interactive|Eidos]], the maker of the game, threatened a lawsuit.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jul/15/vikramdodd | work=[[The Guardian]] | location=London | title=Lara Croft saved from Playboy | first=Vikram | last=Dodd | date=15 July 1999 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref>

McAndrew, affectionately referred to as a [[Forcesforces Sweetheartsweetheart]], has visited the UK[[British Armed Forces]] at bases all over the world.<ref name="figures" />

She has had a [[television]] career as a presenter on ''Racing Rivals'', ''Born to Fight'', ''[[It's a Knockout]]'' and ''[[The Big Breakfast]]''. She has been a contestant on various gameshows and reality shows including ''[[Fort Boyard (TVgame seriesshow)|Fort Boyard]]'', ''[[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series)|I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!]]'', ''[[Celebrities Under Pressure]]'', ''[[Family Fortunes]]'' and ''[[Dancing Onon Ice]]''.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/421695.stm | work=BBC News | title=Channel 5's knockout comeback | date=16 August 1999 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/2231913.stm | work=BBC News | title=I'm A Celebrity..: Your views | date=4 September 2002 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/2242227.stm | work=BBC News | title=McAndrew evicted from survival show | date=6 September 2002 | accessdate=20 May 2010}}</ref>

In January 2009, McAndrew helped [[Benenden Health|Benenden Healthcare Society]], a mutual not-for-profit healthcare organisation, launch their "Fresh Start, Get on Track" campaign, appearing in nationwide radio interviews and online webchats.

In March 2012 McAndrew was the first woman across the finish line in the five-mile [[National Lottery Olympic Park Run]] in a personal best time of 29 minutes and 21 seconds.<ref>{{cite news

With a marathon personal best time of 3:08:25, McAndrew was aiming for her first sub-three-hour marathon in the 2012 London Marathon: "2:59:59 I'd be ecstatic, but if I could get anything under 3:08 I've still got a personal best, which is still amazing, but it's just that kind of magic number of three hours ... I just want to get under that three hours."<ref>{{cite web |date=20 April 2012 |title=Nell McAndrew looks forward to Virgin London Marathon 2012 – Run England podcast |url=http://www.runengland.org/news.asp?itemid=2126&itemTitle=Podcast%3A+Nell+McAndrew+aiming+for+landmark+time+in+Virgin+London+Marathon&section=23&sectionTitle=News |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906100433/http://www.runengland.org/news.asp?itemid=2126&itemTitle=Podcast:+Nell+McAndrew+aiming+for+landmark+time+in+Virgin+London+Marathon&section=23&sectionTitle=News |archivedate=6 September 2014 |accessdate=23 April 2012 |publisher=runengland.org}}</ref> She went on to finish the race in 2:54:39, beating her previous personal best by 13 minutes and 46 seconds. Subsequently commentators [[Steve Cram]] and [[Brendan Foster]] noted that only 88 British women had run a sub-3-hour marathon during 2011.<ref>{{cite episode

|[[National Lottery Olympic Park Run]] ‡

†&nbsp;&ndash; [[half marathon]]<br>

Tracey was a natural red head. After announcing their engagement in September 2004, McAndrew married property developer Paul Hardcastle twice: first in November 2004 in [[Huddersfield]], West Yorkshire, England, then again at a marriage blessing in December 2004 in [[Dubai]]. McAndrew and her husband have a son, Devon,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findmypast.com/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp |title=Births England and Wales 1984-2006 |publisher=findmypast.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220163304/http://www.findmypast.com/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp |archivedate=2009-02-20 }}</ref> born on 24 August 2006.

McAndrew gave birth to hera second child, a daughter, in March 2013.

== Charitable activity ==

McAndrew has supported a range of charities including [[Breast cancer awareness]], [[Help Thethe Aged]], the [[British Heart Foundation]], [[DebRADEBRA]], [[Cancer Research UK]], the [[Lymphoma Association]] and [[SSAFA Forces Help|SSAFA]]. She is also a Vice president of the [http://Leeds%20Rugby%20Foundation [Leeds Rugby Foundation]{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}]<ref>Leeds Rugby Foundation website, list of Vice Presidents</ref> charity.

Launching the Cancer Research UK [[Race for Life]] 2008 in London's [[Regent's Park]], she joined a group of other women whose training outfits were painted on their bodies.<ref>{{cite web

McAndrew ran for the [[Alzheimer's Society]] in the Bupa Great North Run in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] in September 2010. In March 2012 she set a personal best half marathon time of 1:21.54 whilst running for Cancer Research UK at the [[Bath Half Marathon]].

== External links ==