Nell McAndrew
McAndrew running the London Marathon in 2009
Born
Tracey Jane McAndrew

(1973-11-06) 6 November 1973
Belle Isle, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.
Years active1996-present
Spouse
Paul Hardcastle
​
(m. 2004)​
Modeling information
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Hair colorGinger
Eye colorGreen

Tracey Jane McAndrew (born 6 November 1973[1]), known as Nell McAndrew, is an English glamour model, TV presenter and fitness trainer. She is also an accomplished amateur athlete, with a marathon personal best time of 2:54:39.[2]

Early life

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.[1]

Career

McAndrew first signed up with a modelling agency as the result of a suggestion by her hairdresser.[1] 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 in 1996. She later appeared in the 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.[3][4] 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, the maker of the game, threatened a lawsuit.[5]

She has since enjoyed a successful career as a glamour model, frequently appearing in FHM, Maxim and Loaded. She has also appeared in fitness magazines, including Shape and Personal Trainer.

McAndrew, affectionately referred to as a forces sweetheart, has visited the British Armed Forces at bases all over the world.[3]

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, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrities Under Pressure, Family Fortunes and Dancing on Ice.[6][7][8]

Her first fitness video, Peak Energy was released in 2002 and became a best seller. It was followed up by Maximum Impact in December 2003 and Ultimate Challenge, Ultimate Results in December 2004.

In 2003 she was voted the Yorkshire Woman of the Year and in 2005 she won Rear of the Year.[9][10]

McAndrew has been part of a number of PR campaigns for Yorkshire Water, including a digital version of her in their Sewer Raider item on the company website. She also fronted an advertising campaign for Activia Yoghurt.

In January 2009, McAndrew helped 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.

Sport

McAndrew's time in the 2005 London Marathon was fast enough that she qualified to run in the British Championship women's race in future events.[11]

For the 2008 Great North Run, she competed with the fun runners dressed as Wonder Woman to help raise funds for charity.

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.[12]

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."[13] 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.[14] It was 47th fastest time by a British woman that year and the 9th fastest by a British woman over 35.[15]

On 11 September 2016, she took part in the Great North Run to raise funds for Alzheimer's Society and Cancer Research UK.[16]

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
2004 2004 London Marathon London, UK 3376th 3:22:29[17]
2005 2005 London Marathon London, UK 2017th 3:10:51[18]
2008 2008 Great North Run † Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 579th 1:29:23[19]
2009 2009 London Marathon London, UK 1712th 3:10:20[20]
2010 2010 Great North Run † Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 312th 1:26:30[21]
2011 2011 London Marathon London, UK 1653rd 3:08:25[22]
2011 2011 Great North Run † Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 359th 1:25:11[23]
2012 2012 Bath Half Marathon Bath, UK 163rd 1:21:53[24]
2012 National Lottery Olympic Park Run ‡ London, UK 56th (1st woman to finish) 29:21[25]
2012 2012 London Marathon London, UK 742nd ¥ 2:54:39[2]

† – half marathon
‡ – 5-mile race
¥ – of the 13,064 women who completed the race McAndrew finished 46th[26][27]

Personal life

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,[28] born on 24 August 2006.

In March 2009 she revealed that she was still breastfeeding her son, and talked about the criticisms she was receiving for this practice.[29]

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

Charitable activity

McAndrew has supported a range of charities including Breast cancer awareness, Help the Aged, the British Heart Foundation, DEBRA, Cancer Research UK, the Lymphoma Association and SSAFA. She is also a Vice president of the Leeds Rugby Foundation[30] 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.[31]

McAndrew ran for the Alzheimer's Society in the Bupa Great North Run in 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "My Biography". nellmcandrew.tv. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Virgin London Marathon 2012 Tracking and Results".
  3. 1 2 "Model shows she's good with figures". The Times. London. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "The 5-minute Interview: Nell McAndrew, Model/TV presenter". The Independent. London. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Dodd, Vikram (15 July 1999). "Lara Croft saved from Playboy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Channel 5's knockout comeback". BBC News. 16 August 1999. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "I'm A Celebrity..: Your views". BBC News. 4 September 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  8. ↑ "McAndrew evicted from survival show". BBC News. 6 September 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "Who Has Won Rear Of The Year?". Sky Living. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Rear of the Year – History of Event". Rear of the Year. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Goodbody, John; Powell, David (18 April 2005). "McAndrew proves to be a model competitor". The Times. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "Princess Beatrice joins race to be first across Olympic finish line". The Daily Telegraph. 31 Mar 2012.
  13. ↑ "Nell McAndrew looks forward to Virgin London Marathon 2012 – Run England podcast". Run England. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  14. ↑ Presenters: Steve Cram and Brendan Foster (22 April 2012). "BBC coverage of the London Marathon – 2012". 261:05 minutes in. BBC1. Retrieved 23 April 2012. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  15. ↑ "Power of 10 Nell McAndrew". Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Great North Run". Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Flora London Marathon 2004 Results". Archived from the original on 2014-09-06.
  18. ↑ "Flora London Marathon 2005 Results". Archived from the original on 2013-04-20.
  19. ↑ "Great North Run 2008 Results".
  20. ↑ "London Marathon 2009 Results".
  21. ↑ "Great North Run 2010 Results".
  22. ↑ "Virgin London Marathon 2011 race results".
  23. ↑ "Great North Run results".
  24. ↑ "Bath Half Marathon results".
  25. ↑ "National Lottery Olympic Park Run results". Archived from the original on 2014-09-06.
  26. ↑ "Virgin London Marathon 2012 Tracking and Results: Masses – 13037 Results". Virgin London Marathon official website. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  27. ↑ "Virgin London Marathon 2012 Tracking and Results: Elite Women – 27 Results". Virgin London Marathon official website. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  28. ↑ "Births England and Wales 1984-2006". findmypast.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20.
  29. ↑ "Nell McAndrew reveals why she's still breastfeeding her almost three-year-old son". The Daily Mirror. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  30. ↑ Leeds Rugby Foundation website, list of Vice Presidents
  31. ↑ "Naked training – 28 women go au naturel to fight cancer". Cancer Research UK. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
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