“Some of our runners from back in the day are producers, married with kids. I’ve shared my life with them. They’re in limbo, not knowing what they’re going to do.”
Coleen Nolan says ITV’s daytime cuts are “devastating” as Loose Women is reduced to 30 weeks a year and teams are merged(Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for The National Lottery)
Coleen Nolan has described the sweeping changes coming to ITV’s daytime schedule as “devastating,” admitting that many staff on Loose Women are now living in a state of limbo.
The popular daytime panel show, which celebrated Coleen’s 25th year earlier in 2024, is one of several shows affected by ITV’s decision to overhaul its daytime line-up.
Under the new plans, Loose Women will be cut down to just 30 weeks a year, with production teams across This Morning, Lorraine, and Loose Women set to be merged.
While the show itself is not coming to an end, Coleen has voiced deep concern over what the changes could mean for long-standing members of the behind-the-scenes team.
Coleen (L), marking 25 years on Loose Women, says she’s heartbroken for the show’s crew as major changes loom(Image: Brendan O’Sullivan/TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
“The crew have become family. I’ve watched them grow,” she told Notebook magazine. “Some of our runners from back in the day are producers, married with kids. I’ve shared my life with them. They’re in limbo, not knowing what they’re going to do.”
She added: “Loose Women isn’t ending, which I’m so thankful for, but it’s changing. It’s going to be very different in the respect of the size of the crew, but it’s still running.
“Which it should be, there isn’t another show that celebrates and supports all women of every size, age, whatever.
“But it’s heartbreaking to see some of my colleagues not knowing what they’re going to do. Many of them have young families and mortgages.”
Lorraine Kelly’s show will also be cut to 30 minutes a day for just 30 weeks a year(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
ITV insiders have told The Mirror that the on-screen panel is expected to remain largely unchanged, but confirmed that a number of redundancies are likely among the production staff. The uncertainty has reportedly taken its toll behind the scenes.
Lorraine Kelly’s show is also being trimmed, moving to a 30-minute slot each day and only running for 30 weeks a year.
In its place, Good Morning Britain will extend its broadcast to 9.30am, and during Lorraine’s off-air weeks, GMB will run until 10am.
Coleen, who first joined the Loose Women panel in 2000 alongside Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha, Ruth Langsford and Jane Moore, said she had never experienced anything like the changes currently sweeping through the show.
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“You read about it all the time, a chain store’s shutting down and 300 people are affected,” she said.
“You go, ‘Oh that’s awful. Anyway, what do you want for dinner?’, because it doesn’t directly affect you.
“I’ve never been so close to it. It’s made me realise how much this is happening across the whole country at the moment and it’s devastating.”
In a statement addressing the shake-up, Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, said: “Our daytime slate is a really important part of what we do and the changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust.”