panellists

The Loose Women panellists are said to be worried that, as part of the upcoming shake-up at ITV, they are going to be axed from their jobs to make way for younger stars

Loose Women’s panellists are said to be worrying about their future as younger stars “take over.” It’s no secret that there has been panic backstage behind ITV’s midday show, with several of its leading ladies being vocal about the major changes which will come into play next year.

Last month, ITV announced a major overhaul of their daytime schedules, which affects both Loose and Lorraine Kelly’s self-titled morning programme. However, despite being hit with a mass loss of viewers, the magazine show This Morning remains unaffected. While both Lorraine and Loose air throughout the year, they will be axed to just 30 weeks of airtime.

Now, sources have said that older members of the panel, including Coleen Nolan, Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha, Denise Welch, Ruth Langsford and Linda Robson, no longer feel safe in their jobs. Kaye and Nadia are two of the original serving panellists from the show’s launch in 1999.

Reports claim that some of the older panellists fear they’ll be axed in favour of younger members of the panel, including GK Barry, Olivia Attwood, former singer Frankie Bridge and Stacey Solomon, who hasn’t been on the show since 2023. The younger panellists have millions of online followers and use social media platforms such as TikTok to their advantage.

Former singer Stacey has a staggering six million followers on her Instagram page alone. “The other girls feel like they can’t compete with Stacey’s stats,” a source told Closer magazine. The outlet goes on to claim that other members of the panel are being encouraged to build their online following on platforms such as TikTok, but this has been branded a “full-time job in itself.”

Bosses on the programme are reportedly telling panellists that any change is not a personal move, but that hasn’t gone down too well. “Nadia has been warning her co-stars it’s not about who you are anymore, but how many followers you have,” the insider added.

While final decisions are yet to be made, the source went on to comment: “In the long term, it could mean a farewell to the golden oldies. Coleen has been on the show, on and off, since 2000, a quarter of a century. Viewing numbers are down, and financial cuts have been made to save the ship and there’s a few that are expected to walk the plank.”

Nadia, however, has spoken publicly about the cuts. Speaking on her YouTube page, the actress and broadcaster said: “Do you know what, at the moment, all of us on screen are in work and are proud of what we do. But behind the scenes there are people that are really suffering, and what you don’t realise is when you attack the show you attack them, because you never see all the army of people behind the scenes and how hard they work.

“So to all my friends and colleagues behind the scenes who have just got a huge shock out of the blue, I’m so sorry. Mark knows how upset I’ve been at home about it. I just can’t bear it. So just be f*****g kind to people.”

She then added: “What people don’t realise at Loose Women is that we’re self-employed, I am self-employed. Every contract is a new contract. I could be let go tomorrow, in five years, you don’t know because we’re not employees.

“So I can’t tell you anything except I am on for my next contract. What has been brutal over the past week, and I am getting tearful about it, is that hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. A lot of my friends and colleagues have been there for decades and I cannot tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they are going to do. That has been so awful. It has been worse than whatever trolls have been saying about our show that we feel really protective of.”

Speaking previously of the fears the panellists are having, a Loose source told the Mirror: “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.”

The Mirror has approached Loose Women, Nadia and Stacey’s spokespeople for comment.

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The Loose Women panellists are believed to be enraged over the huge shake-up at ITV, which will see the programme taken off air for almost half of the year

Older members of the Loose Women panel are believed to be vowing to “fight” against the younger stars. It comes amidst a huge shake-up at ITV, which will see a huge overhaul of their daytime scheduling, affecting various shows.

The network announced earlier this week that Loose and Lorraine Kelly’s self-titled show will see its time on air cut to just 30 weeks of the year, rather than airing on a continuous basis. Despite This Morning being hit with a huge dip in viewing figures, the show will not be affected.

Lorraine’s programme has also taken another hit and will air for just half an hour, rather than an hour, as Good Morning Britain has been extended for an extra 30 minutes. But tension at Loose is believed to be at an all-time high, with panellists feeling as though they’re on a probation period.

It’s claimed that stars of the midday programme, including Christine Lampard and Coleen Nolan, hadn’t been informed of the news until it was made public. Reports claim that older women on the panel, who have been there since it launched a quarter of a century ago, believe they’ll be fighting against “PR friendly” younger members of the team, including Frankie Bridge, Olivia Attwood and TikToker GK Barry.

The majority of the panel have been through ITV cuts and the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 and have come out the other side. But the news this week is said to have left them blindsided. A source said: “They feel like often all the negative criticism is levelled at them, the odd ‘out of touch’ comment, whereas with the new panellists such as Liv and Grace, there is a buzz around them because they have that different point of view.”

They added to The Sun: “Execs have also proudly pro-claimed how the youngsters have brought with them a much-needed new audience — and now all of a sudden the older panellists feel like they are going to have to fight for their places against these shiny teachers’ pets. It’s now five months or so for them to prove their worth and sing for their supper.”

But a source at the network said that the older panellists on Loose Women are “highly valued and celebrated”. They added that while there are reports of the panel “fighting” to get time on the show, the Loose Women podcast and Over 60 and Over 70s specials will “keep everyone busy.”

It’s claimed that regular anchors, including Christine, Kaye Adams, Ruth Langsford and Charlene White, are all safe in their positions but many have been left worried that bosses will meticulously look over their social media posts, episode ratings and audience polling results.

Reports claim that many of the panellists feel they will now have to ‘audition for their role’ and tensions will rise as they continue to demonstrate how bold and feisty they can all be. Over the years, viewers have seen clashes between each of the panellists, with former star Carol McGiffin allegedly clashing with Andrea McLean after she was left off the invite list for her wedding.

Carol took to her Best Magazine column to highlight this, writing, “I’m ecstatic for them both, even though I wasn’t invited to the wedding. Andrea’s managed to squeeze in two weddings in less time than I’ve been engaged to Mark, which is a bit embarrassing, to say the least.”

Speaking in 2014, Mylene Klass, who often appears on the panel, hit out following a clash with broadcaster and journalist, Janet Street-Porter. On the show, Janet lost her temper with the star, saying,”I’m happiest when I’m not sat next to you Myleene!”

Following this, the singer took to social media to vent: “I love Loose Women. It’s nice to be able to articulate and get things out there. But I feel it was getting a bit misogynistic, a bit post-menopausal or pre-menopausal and ranty. That’s not how women should be represented so it’s nice they’ve refreshed the panel and we can talk about politics, fashion designers and what else is going on in the week.

“It’s a show for women but I don’t feel like it empowered me. People think you’re best friends with everybody on Loose Women. You’re absolutely not. You have to just tolerate [some people] because you’ve got to get the job done.”

Elsewhere, speaking out last year, McGiffin fumed: “I don’t regret leaving – I don’t fit in there any more. Someone, somewhere, will be offended by absolutely everything. I’d rather not be on a show that panders to that. It’s boring – and I won’t be told what I can or can’t say.”

Despite her ongoing clash with the show, she has remained close to Denise Welch, Kaye, Jane Moore and Nadia Sawalha. But, Carol, who never refrains from speaking her mind, told Women’s Own: “Some, I have nothing in common with. As I said to them, ‘You’re not friends, you’re just people I work with, who I really like.’ Which horrified them.”

The Mirror approached Loose Women for comment.

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