Following the latest news that beloved Loose Women panellist Denise Welch is departing the ITV show, many viewers are now labelling the programme a ‘sinking ship’
Denise Welch has revealed she’s leaving Loose Women after 25 years(Image: ITV)
Daytime TV favourite Loose Women has recently undergone some of the most sweeping structural and staffing shake-ups in its 26-year history, and following the latest news that beloved panellist Denise Welch is departing the show, many viewers are now labelling the programme a ‘sinking ship’.
As part of a sweeping broadcaster-wide cost-cutting drive by ITV, the format of the show has changed dramatically this year. Rather than broadcasting all year round, Loose Women was scaled back to a seasonal format in January, airing for just 30 weeks a year. The show also axed its live studio audience entirely. This decision led to the dismissal of long-serving studio warm-up comedian Lee Peart, sparking an emotional outcry from remaining cast members.
Loose Women also vacated its former home and relocated to The H Club Studio in Covent Garden. It now shares a centralised, 360-degree LED-walled studio space with This Morning and Lorraine in a bid to significantly slash production costs.
While its standard runtime remains one hour (12:30 pm to 1:30 pm), the show has trialled temporary extensions – such as 15-minute “extra time” segments to accommodate sports scheduling and specific themed features.
It was also revealed this month that panellist Nadia Sawalha had been dropped from the programme by ITV following controversy over her beliefs. Now, news has broken today (August 13) that Denise Welch has quit the show.
The 68-year-old, who has appeared on-and-off the programme for 25 years, says she wants to throw herself wholeheartedly into her acting career, which she has described as her true passion and “first love”.
She has enjoyed a remarkable professional resurgence of late, landing major television roles including the Channel 4 sitcom Stepping Up and the Channel 5 drama Forever Home.
In a video uploaded to her personal Instagram account, Welch opened up about the reasoning behind her departure.
She said: “Acting has always been my first love and, I think, the thing I’m best at.
“At the moment, I’m having the most wonderful opportunities coming my way and I’m grabbing them by the you-know-whats and running with it for this new chapter of my life.”
Reflecting on her time on Loose Women, she added: “This show has been part of mine, and my family’s life, for nearly a quarter of a century. I have the most wonderful, wonderful memories.
“I’ve shared my life with you, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m very Marmite, but I cherish all the comments, good or bad, that I’ve had over the years.”
Amid growing public speculation over the state of the show, she moved to clarify her relationship with her fellow cast members, adding: “I’ll miss everybody, but I will remain friends with the whole gang because, despite what you might read, we are a happy band of campers.”
Her announcement triggered an enormous outpouring of support from her fellow panellists, underscoring her reputation as the “beating heart” of the show.
Host Kaye Adams wrote: “You have broken my heart but I shall watch your Den-aissance with love and pride.”
While Nadia Sawalha added: “You are such a fantastic actress. Fly high lovely.”
Scores of fans also told Denise how much they had enjoyed watching her on the programme, though some predicted its decline following her exit and other recent developments.
One person wrote: “It’s not fun to watch anymore and it feels like people are not allowed to have different opinions on the important things! Plus ITV deciding to get the rid of the audience is the beginning of the end. You were my favourite one!”.
Another claimed Loose Women is “grinding to a halt”, while a third added: “I’m glad you jumped before the ship went down.”
The news comes amid separate claims that ITV recently shelved a Loose Women spin-off project as part of sweeping budget cuts across the broadcaster.
In July 2026, reports emerged that ITV executives quietly pulled the plug on a planned Loose Women spin-off podcast.
An insider noted that while the broadcaster remains hopeful for another run in the future, the project will not feature on the immediate calendar due to sweeping cost-cutting measures impacting ITV Daytime.