SAD NEWS! Loose Women’s Janet Street-Porter ‘UPDATES’ stars hit with brutal cuts by ITV
Loose Women star Janet Street-Porter has spoken out on the celebrities she says are at risk from the savage ITV budget slashes.The television personality has disclosed which panellists she believes will survive and which ones could be axed as part of massive cost-cutting measures at ITV.
Regular Janet has lifted the lid on the impending budget cuts hitting ITV that are poised to affect numerous daytime programmes. The 78-year-old panellist and journalist has maintained that none of the “veteran” Loose Women contributors will be departing, suggesting that should redundancies occur, it will be the fresh faces or younger personalities featuring on the ITV programme who bear the brunt.
“There are no plans to get rid of the older women despite of what some people have said,” Janet declared in an interview with Bella. “In fact, the reverse is true. ITV actually put out a statement saying we are the valued members of the show because the audience totally relates to us.”
Janet continued: “I think Loose Women has become a programme that is trusted by a lot of women because we talk about the issues that they are concerned about – whether it’s female health, domestic violence, or how politicians don’t really understand working women.”
The former journalist and TV star went on to state: “I think the show has managed to connect women who wouldn’t otherwise have a voice. And it’s delivered with a lot of laughs because we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Loose Women is bracing for its most significant revamp in years, with dramatic alterations that have left fans and cast members stunned amid concerns that the ITV favourite could be cancelled within the next year. The renowned midday chat show, celebrated for its daring debates and star-studded guests, is set to eliminate celebrity interviews entirely from January due to sweeping budget cuts across ITV Daytime.
This decision follows just months after executives announced the programme would only broadcast for 30 weeks of the year instead of its usual 52, nearly halving production time. Now, as viewing figures are forecasted to plummet even further, insiders suggest Loose Women is “on borrowed time” as ITV shifts its focus towards sister shows Lorraine and This Morning.
Throughout its 25-year history, Loose Women has hosted some of the world’s biggest stars on the panel – from Naomi Campbell and Janet Jackson to Dame Joan Collins and even former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
However, sources suggest the show will no longer feature celebrities promoting their projects due to a lack of staff to handle guests behind the scenes. Instead, these high-profile bookings will reportedly be reserved for Lorraine and This Morning, leaving Loose Women to depend solely on its panel discussions of the day’s news and lifestyle topics.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Not having guests is a big blow for both the presenters and viewers at home. The decision to scrap celebrity interviews from the show has been met with surprise, as they’re often seen as a highlight that adds a unique energy not found elsewhere.
“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.”
Reports by the same publication also suggest that behind-the-scenes, stalwarts of the panel such as Nadia Sawalha, Ruth Langsford, and Coleen Nolan are reportedly “deeply upset” over the recent changes. Loose Women’s choice to remove its live studio audience has left both the panel and crew heartbroken.
Nadia highlighted the significance of the audience, stating, “The audience is so important for the show,” She also touched on the precarious nature of television work: “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 continued: “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.”
