I worked with John Stapleton at Good Morning Britain and every single person loved and adored him, from make-up artists to editors
14:26, 21 Sep 2025Updated 14:26, 21 Sep 2025
Kevin Maguire is Associate Editor of the Mirror and a politics columnist. He is a frequent contributor to Good Morning Britain and other TV shows. He also writes a column for the New Statesman and earlier in his career was chief reporter for The Guardian. He is a Sunderland AFC supporter.
John Stapleton was loved by everyone he worked with(Image: PA)
EVERYBODY, absolutely everybody, who met or worked with John Stapleton absolutely loved the TV sleuth and presenter.
That’s a rare accolade in an often cut-throat trade occasionally marred by monstrous egos yet Stapes was above all else a wonderful bloke
From the make-up artists who’d powder his nose and camera crews framing his face to powerful editors and famous co-stars, Stapes was adored.
And in turn the ultimate professional was encouraging, generous and gracious to all of them including walk-on players like myself and Tory Boy.
Slim and dapper, I never ceased to be impressed how we’d turn up bleary-eyed for Good Morning Britain and its predecessors and Stapes would be bright eyed and bushy tailed, immaculately dressed as if he’d just stepped off Savile Row.
I worked with John at Good Morning Britain(Image: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)
Never one to brag or stand on ceremony, Stapes enjoyed chatting politics and a good gossip.
He didn’t wear a glorious career on his smart sleeve and the easiness of a journalist with much to boast about was central to his appeal.
Oldham born, Stapes remained a Northern living in the South who’d regularly punctuate our conversations with references to what he’d recently read in the Manchester Evening News.
After his family, the great love of his life was Manchester City, a football team supported through thin and thinner before glory arrived to finally overshadow giant neighbours United.
Stapes buying home and away season tickets to follow City around the country and Europe, cheering unprecedented success with son Nick as the titles and cups rolled in, was him living the dream.
The fortitude and good cheer he adopted when first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, vowing to try not be miserable, was the positive outlook of somebody determined to confront adversity.
“In often cut-throat trade occasionally marred by monstrous egos, Stapes was above all else a wonderful bloke,” says The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire(Image: ITV)
But the truth was his eyes beamed less brightly and he looked a few inches shorter after the 2020 death of wife and onetime co-presenter Lynn Faulds Wood.
Understandable when what defined Stapes was his engaging warmness. He was a TV success because of who he was rather than a person forged by broadcasting triumphs
The wave of heartfelt tributes are genuine for a genuine man. Sorry I never had you back to my place for dinner as promised, Stapes. He once joked I should email the invitation after I pretended it must be lost in the post.
ITV boss Kevin Lygo has lifted the lid on upcoming cuts to the channel’s daytime offerings, admitting that certain shows are a huge expense to make
20:38, 21 Aug 2025Updated 20:38, 21 Aug 2025
Lorraine Kelly’s breakfast show will be affected(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
ITV boss Kevin Lygo has insisted the channel will try to make their daytime shows look the same next year but admitted it will be “challenging” – as he spoke out about the budget cuts to daytime.
From January 2026 Lorraine Kelly’s morning show on ITV will be cut from an hour to 30 minutes as more than 220 jobs across the station’s daytime output are being cut, the broadcaster announced in May.
Asked directly if the best days of daytime TV were behind them at ITV, ITV managing director Lygo said “no, I don’t think so” but admitted there would be changes.
He admitted that although ITV’s daytime shows are “brilliant” they are expensive to make(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
He said: “As a commercial broadcast you earn most of your money with big audiences in peak time. That is what advertisers want and the cost of those has gone up and up and up. Those are the things that drive us commercially.
“Those morning shows have been on forever and they are brilliant and they are watched and they are seven hours of TV a day but they do cost a great deal of money.
“So we thought, is there a way of keeping those long standing brands on air and keeping the familiar faces on that give comfort to people? So the editorial brief was if you have a lot less money, which you will do from January, to try to make it so the audience isn’t shocked. They should look more or less the same, they are less funded so that will be challenging to the producers. But unfortunately that means people doing a perfectly good job will lose their jobs because we need fewer people making them.”
Good Morning Britain will see big changes(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Lygo also defended the decision to keep Torode’s John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen on air on ITV after he was sacked from MasterChef following an independent report.
Questioned over this decision to let him remain on screen, Lygo said he “felt it was a bit much for us to jump on the bandwagon and just deny these shows to go out.”
He added: “We don’t know the details, the BBC haven’t come out with that. We pre-recorded those shows. We did ask the producers of our shows if there were any incidents and they said everything was fine.”
Torode was sacked after the report, initially examining allegations against Wallace, upheld a complaint against him for use of racial language. Torode has apologised but denied the incident took place.
In a separate session at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC’s chief content officer said the corporation “acted fast” after misconduct allegations against former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.
Wallace, 60, issued an apology saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”, after a review said 45 out of 83 allegations made against him were upheld.
Speaking at the Festival, Kate Phillips said: “I think when complaints came to me about Gregg Wallace, which was 2019, when I dealt with it, I always dealt with it straightaway.
“So there were two complaints. I dealt with them. I acted on them fast.
“I think we weren’t as joined-up in the BBC as we are now, so I didn’t know about some of the historical things that had taken place. So if I’d known about those at the time, yes, I may have acted differently, but I acted on the information I was given.
“I think I acted responsibly. I left him in no doubt of the expected behaviour that we expect at the BBC, if you like. I stand by the actions I took at the time with the knowledge that I had.”
ITV staff working on daytime were told in a meeting in May that 220 production staff out of 440 will lose their jobs
On the other daytime shows as previously revealed in the Mirror there will be cuts to Loose Women which will see less panelists needed than the current rota of 26.
One insider insister 8-10 might leave in the New Year and it would mean the next six months would see panelists being more outrageous and bold with their comments than normal to keep the spot on the show. ITV have insisted there will be no widespread cuts when it comes to panelists.
Good Morning Britain will also see big cuts and changes but the one constant will be Susanna Reid. A source previously told the Mirror: “When there are cuts this big normally no one is safe but Susanne Reid is someone ITV want to build the show around and is seen as an essential part of daytime. She is 100% safe from the cuts but will be very worried for friends she has on GMB and what the cuts mean for the quality of the programme on screen.”
Hundreds of staff are now in a consultation process at ITV.
LOOSE Women star Judi Love has landed a huge new job just days after ITV announced their daytime cull.
The ITV show’s line-up had been left in the dark about cuts to their lunchtime talk show, which will take effect from January amid a cash crisis.
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Lose Women star Judi Love has landed a huge new job amid ITV’s daytime cullCredit: Rex
Sweeping changes announced earlier this month mean the female-led, lunchtime talk show will only air for 30 weeks a year.
So, it’s a good job Judi, 44, has bagged herself a lucrative podcasting gig to keep the cash rolling in.
The comedian announced on Instagram today that the first episode of Our Table will be released tomorrow.
Fellow Loose Woman Charlene White is joining her, along with actor David Gyasi, comedian Michelle Deswarte and actress Deborah Ayorinde.
She wrote: “Our Table will launch on Friday, the 30th, on YouTube and all major podcast platforms!
“We have an exciting series lined up, featuring incredible guests and engaging conversations. Join us at Our Table!! #Ourtable #JudiLove.”
A second post saw the Strictly star posed with her special guests ahead of the series premiere.
The Sun previously revealed how Loose Women is in chaos backstage with some of the stars doing the show “through gritted teeth” as they face a 60 per cent pay cut.
An insider told us: “It’s very tense backstage as the cast are all fuming. It’s like they’re putting on a brave face and doing the show through gritted teeth.
“Some people’s pay could be cut by 60% as some get paid by the episode and they’ll be slashed next year.
ITV Daytime Shake-Up: Major Changes to Lorraine and Loose Women Revealed
“For some it’s their main source of income and it’s worrying to everyone.”
This comes after an ITV source revealed: “We are not planning any radical changes to the panel.
“All of our Loose Women are hugely valued and we celebrate each and every one and the experience and opinions they bring to the show every day.
“Many of our long standing panellists have appeared on the show for the majority of its 25 year run on screens and those stalwart, Loose legends are at the core of the show’s success and hugely popular with the audience.
“The show remains a big priority within our daytime slate, having secured a BAFTA nomination, launched a podcast and celebrated a milestone anniversary in the last year alone.”
MORE ITV CUTS
Loose Women isn’t the only show affected by recently announced changes at ITV, that will come into play in 2026.
Lorraine Kelly’s show has been cut to just 30 minutes a day and will also only air for 30 weeks of the year.
Reaction to the news Loose Women will air only 30 weeks of the year from January irked Jane Moore, who said she was “immensely disappointed” to see pundits’ “lazy misogyny”
Coleen Nolan (second left) was particularly upset at the ITV’s secision to make daytime cuts(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
ITV has insisted it is not planning “radical changes” to the Loose Women line-up after it emerged some panelists were “in a state of panic and up in arms” amid the cuts bombshell.
ITV has also stressed Loose Women plays an important part in its daytime schedule, and told the Mirror today that wholesale changes to the panel are unlikely. The ITV source said: “We are not planning any radical changes to the panel. All of our Loose Women are hugely valued and we celebrate each and every one and the experience and opinions they bring to the show every day.
“Many of our long standing panellists have appeared on the show for the majority of its 25 year run on screens and those stalwart, Loose legends are at the core of the show’s success and hugely popular with the audience. The show remains a big priority within our daytime slate, having secured a BAFTA nomination, launched a podcast and celebrated a milestone anniversary in the last year alone.”
(From left to right) Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street Porter and Brenda Edwards pose ahead of a recent Loose Women show
It is thought this stance has been shared with the stars themselves, some of whom “reached out to the production team in a panic” following the announcement of the shake-up last week. Ruth Langsford and Kaye Adams were among those particularly concerned, the Mirror reported in the wake of the bombshell.
Coleen, whose sister Linda died in January, “has always really relied onLoose Women… her main income,” a source had told us. They added: “She was one of the first Loose Women and she’s always thought it would go on forever. The Loose Women ladies are all gutted. They love the show and are really dedicated to it.”
The programme, which first aired in 2000, won a Royal Television Society award earlier this year for its Facing It Together campaign against domestic violence. However, writing for The Sun this week, Jane said: “One male commentator for a broadsheet casually dismissed Loose Women — on air for 25 years — as a ‘gabfest’… The snooty reaction from some quarters was immensely disappointing.”
Jane Moore, who has been in her second stint on Loose Women since 2013, noted the response from some pundits at the ITV announcement it – and Lorraine – will only run 30 weeks of the year from 2026
05:45, 28 May 2025Updated 05:47, 28 May 2025
Jane Moore has blasted the ‘snooty reaction’to the news Loose Women is being slashed to 30 weeks of the year(Image: YouTube)
Jane Moore has blasted the “snooty reaction” of some pundits at the announcement Loose Women is to be cut back to 30 weeks of the year.
The journalist, who claims ITV intends to use money it will save with the move by investing in more sport programmes, said she was “immensely disappointed” to see comments she called “lazy misogyny”. She wrote: “One male commentator for a broadsheet casually dismissed Loose Women — on air for 25 years — as a ‘gabfest’… The snooty reaction from some quarters was immensely disappointing.”
Jane, 63, does not name the broadsheet – or commentator – in her opinion piece but goes onto list several examples of moments on Loose Women where key political figures have been held to account.
Writing for The Sun, the journalist said: “Clearly he hadn’t seen the episode when Janet Street Porter turned to then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and demanded: ‘Why do you hate pensioners?’… Or when a squirming Nigel Farage was put on the spot and declared afterwards ‘that was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.'”
Jane said Loose Women often discuss serious issues, such as cancer here with Coleen Nolan’s brother Brian, in March (Image: ITV)
Loose Women, a staple on ITV since 2000, also won a Royal Television Society award earlier this year for its Facing It Together campaign against domestic violence.
But it and Lorraine are casualties of a major ITV shake-up, as both daytime programmes will only run 30 weeks of the year from 2026. It is thought the move will save the network money but Jane, who was on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! last year, understands cash will go into sport programmes instead.
The experienced broadcaster added: “When it was announced that one of the precious few, all-female shows was being cut back to 30 weeks a year to save money for, among other things, more sport, the snooty reaction from some quarters was immensely disappointing.
“We always cover the day’s main news stories, as well as important topics such as, among many other things, miscarriage, post-natal depression, menopause, midlife female invisibility (oh the irony) and breast cancer awareness.”
Jane has been a regular on Loose Women since 2013 and had a three-year stint some time before then, ending in 2002. She works alongside multiple panelists, whose ages range from 25 to 85-year old TV legend Gloria Hunniford. It is thought the numbers will be cut next year, alongside the hours available.
Lorraine Kelly, meanwhile, is also said to be unhappy with the changes. She has had her own, self-titled morning programme on ITV since 2010. But an ITV source told us this week: “She has been an icon of ITV but serious cuts need to be made and her show has been cut to just 30 minutes, which after ad breaks will be a very short chunk of time.”
Staff at ITV are said to be growing angrier as the row over cuts on key shows such as Loose Women and Lorraine continues, with insiders fearing a drop in standards
23:28, 22 May 2025Updated 23:50, 22 May 2025
ITV staff fury grows over 220 job cuts and ‘death of daytime’ as CEO pockets £4million salary(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
ITV staff fury is growing as the row over sweeping cuts to Loose Women and Lorraine continues to rage. Recriminations are becoming increasingly bitter over the channel’s axing of 220 jobs, with insiders insisting viewers will notice a drop in standards.
Many are blaming chief executive Carolyn McCall for the “death of daytime” and have criticised her for pocketing a massive £4million salary, including bonus, last year. There is also widespread anger that the cost-savings, which will radically change ITV ’s daytime schedule from January, were not delivered by Ms McCall to staff gathered in London’s Television Centre, on Tuesday.
A Good Morning Britain source said: “She could have walked the 400 yards to the studio to explain to folk in person.” But a channel spokeswoman said ITV Studios MD Julian Bellamy personally wanted to deliver the news: “It was really important to him that he shared this news directly in the way he felt appropriate. This is also very much in line with best practice HR given the sensitivity of the situation.”
Loose Women will feel the effect of the changes(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
They said ITV boss Kevin Lygo made the decision to shake-up the schedules. It comes as the channel was rocked by a series of other developments including:
Claims that standards across Lorraine and Loose Women in particular will go into a “death spiral” leaving viewers short-changed.
Outrage over stars on shows such as This Morning keeping their well-paid jobs while hundreds are sacked.
Fears of strikes among heavily unionised GMB studio crew and technicians.
On screen, viewers will see huge changes to the daytime schedule. Lorraine is the worst hit. It will run for 30 weeks, not 50 weeks a year, and will be slashed from an hour to 30 minutes each day.
Loose Women will stay at the same running time but will also be cut to 30 weeks. This Morning will remain the same length and frequency. Meanwhile Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes, to run from 6am to 9.30am. For the 22 weeks of the year Lorraine is not airing, it will go on until 10am.
A source said: “It’s not a case of viewers seeing less of their shows… it’s impossible to see how the high standards will remain the same. Some staff believe Loose Women and Lorraine in particular will enter a death spiral… it’s just so sad. Just a handful of people will be working on each of those two programmes which has huge ramifications for how they are going forward.”
All the shows are now going to be made under one roof. An insider asked: “If that’s the case, will Loose Women really still have a live audience…will there be the capacity for that? Everyone doubts it, not least because of the manpower needed to oversee it. Also, there is a huge amount of background work which goes into securing guests… in the new climate how does that continue with barely any staff?”
ITV sources insist that they want “minimal change” for viewers. The source said: “It’s early days and we are currently consulting but we don’t want to alienate our viewers and it’s hoped there will be minimal change on screen. Daytime is hugely important to our viewers.”
The Loose Women panel, including Coleen Nolan, GK Barry and Frankie Bridge, are also expected to see shifts dwindle, especially those who live outside London and charge for travel and hotels. Glam squads are also expected to be axed with stars expected to use in-house make-up.
An insider said: “To be honest there is very little sympathy for stars having their glam squads cut among the rank and file staff, in fact there is a lot of anger that on the whole the channel’s biggest stars are all keeping their jobs – and their exorbitant salaries – while others suffer.”
They added: “It’s no secret that stars on This Morning such as Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley are on huge salaries. Many believe they should offer to take cuts, or at least when their contracts are next negotiated.”
On the whole, This Morning is unaffected by the sweeping cuts. It will remain in its 10am-12.30pm slot on weekdays although questions remain over whether standards will be maintained.
The current Good Morning Britain team was particularly hard hit – of the 133 staff who currently make the early-bird magazine show, hosted by Susanna Reid, Richard Madeley and Ed Balls, just 38 will make the move to ITN which will now produce the show.
One source on the show said: “Lots of the studio crew and technicians will be the hardest hit with ITN taking over their roles. A lot of them are unionised and there is a fear among ITV that industrial action could be an option.”
GMB will be re-homed within ITN’s Gray’s Inn Road headquarters in Central London. Staff working on all shows are expected to “carry on as normal” until the plans are formalised.
A source said: “It’s a mutinous atmosphere to say the least and far removed from the happy, cheery image that ITV Daytime usually evokes.” The Mirror revealed this week staff on Lorraine were particularly worried their main host could quit.
Contrary to reports she was happy to see her hours cut “to spend more time with her family”, insiders say she is devastated for the team on the show being decimated. “They are a tight bunch on Lorraine and the agony is palpable,” said one.
