Loose Women is among ITV’s daytime shows that are facing budget cuts in the coming months as insiders warn the show will be completely stripped back from its usual setup
Loose Women is facing its biggest shake-up in decades, with dramatic changes that have left fans and cast members reeling as insiders fear the ITV favourite could be axed altogether within the next year.
The iconic lunchtime chat show, known for its bold debates and A-list guests, is expected to cut celebrity interviews completely from January as part of sweeping budget cuts across ITV Daytime. The move comes just months after bosses announced the show would only air for 30 weeks of the year rather than its usual 52, slashing production time nearly in half.
Now, with viewing figures predicted to tumble even further, sources claim Loose Women is “on borrowed time” as ITV pivots its focus to sister shows Lorraine and This Morning.
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“It’s a real shame. In January, the programme will become a shell of its former self before it is inevitably cancelled altogether,” one TV insider told Mail Online.
No more celebrity guests
Over its 25 year history, Loose Women has welcomed some of the world’s biggest stars to the panel – from Naomi Campbell and Janet Jackson to Dame Joan Collins and even former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
But sources claim the show will no longer feature famous faces promoting their projects because there won’t be enough staff to manage guests behind the scenes.
Instead, those high-profile bookings will now reportedly be prioritised for Lorraine and This Morning, leaving Loose Women to rely solely on its panel discussions of the day’s news and lifestyle topics.
“Not having guests is a big blow for both the presenters and viewers at home,” an insider revealed.
“The celebrity interviews are often one of the highlights of the show and bring a unique energy you don’t get on other programmes. It feels like a strange decision to cut them altogether.”
Behind the scenes, the panel – including long-serving stars like Nadia Sawalha, Ruth Langsford and Coleen Nolan – are said to be “deeply upset” by the changes.
Studio audience scrapped
The cuts don’t stop there. Loose Women has already axed its live studio audience, a move that has left both the panel and crew heartbroken.
Nadia Sawalha admitted she was “totally devastated” at the loss of the audience and spoke out in support of her close friend and warm-up artist Lee Peart, who lost his job as a result.
“The audience is so important for the show,” Nadia said. “What a lot of people don’t realise is that we’re self-employed. Every contract is a new contract – I could be let go tomorrow or in five years. It’s brutal.”
She added: “Hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. A lot of my friends and colleagues on this show and at ITV have been there for decades, and I can’t tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they were going to do.”
Reason behind changes
ITV bosses have blamed “insane inflation” and rising costs for the daytime cuts, which have also seen Lorraine halved to 30 minutes and reduced to term-time broadcasts.
In May, ITV confirmed that production of Good Morning Britain will shift to a dedicated team at ITV News, while Loose Women, Lorraine, and This Morning will merge behind-the-scenes teams to save costs.
But industry insiders warn that these measures will likely spell the end for Loose Women.
An ITV spokesperson said: “The Loose Women team is still working on the show and its content for next year.”
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Source: Mirror
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