Loose Women is facing cuts from ITV bosses (Image: ITV)

Sherrie Hewson has hit out at “cruel” ITV bosses after the decision was taken to halve the number of Loose Women episodes. From January 2026, the daytime panel show will only air 30 weeks out of the year instead of 52 due to budget cuts – while Lorraine will also be cut down for a longer instalment of Good Morning Britain.

Now Hollyoaks actress Sherrie insisted the show is a “lifeline” for lonely people. She said: “Women of all ages, those up to 95 down to younger women at home with young children, it’s like therapy to them. It feels cruel and sad that they’ve decided to cut the episodes on Loose Women which is a show that can bring anger and emotions.”

She added: “We all need that where we can all shout at the TV. Some people are lonely and it is a lifeline for them, the only discussion they may actually be part of during the day.”

Sherrie pointed out that a lot of dementia patients in care homes use the show as a regular daily interaction, explaining that the show “allows people to join in”.

She said: “Loose Women is so important to them – it keeps them alive. They feel they are interacting. I go into the homes as a visitor, I chat to them and we watch telly together. We watch Loose Women together.”

Sherrie was a regular on Loose Women until 2016, when she quit to concentrate on her acting work. She said in an emotional statement at the time: “Thank you to everybody out there who has cared about me and my family, and watched them grow up.

Sherrie Hewson quit the panel show in 2016 (Image: ITV)
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“It has been fantastic. Thank you so much for everything, every tweet, every message you have sent me.”

Sherrie said of her colleagues: “I love them all, they’ve been so good and wonderful.

“I have a thing that goes right through my body that says Loose Women, like a [stick of] rock in Blackpool, and so it will never, ever leave me.”