Loose Women panic as panellists fear axe as younger co-star to 'take over'

Daily Mirror

4 days ago

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.
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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.
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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."
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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."
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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.