Janet Street-Porter is adamant that ITV is not axing older Loose Women panellists
Janet Street-Porter says ITV has "no plans" to get rid of Loose Women's older panellists amid the broadcaster axing over 220 jobs as a result of its budget cuts.
Janet Street-Porter claims there are "no plans" for ITV to axe older Loose Women panellists - amid bosses reportedly looking to bring in influencers to get more viewers watching the broadcaster's daytime offering.
The 78-year-old journalist says ITV - which is airing Loose Women for 30 weeks instead of 52 weeks from 2026, and is chopping over 220 jobs as a result of its budget cuts - values the elder stars of the ITV1 lunchtime discussion show, including Gloria Hunniford, 85, and Ruth Langsford, 65, because the "audience totally relate to us".
Janet told the new issue of Bella magazine: "There are no plans to get rid of the older women, despite of what some people have said!
"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 relate to us.
"I think Loose Women has become a programme that's 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.
"I think the show has managed to connect to 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."
Influencer GK Barry - real name Grace Keeling, 25 - became a Loose Women panellist in 2024, and Love Island star-turned-documentary maker Olivia Attwood, 34, made her debut on the talk show in 2023.
Despite reports that ITV could be getting more younger celebrities on the show to boost ratings, ex-Loose Women star Carol McGiffin, 65, believes it is a bad move.
Speaking in a recent episode of Dan Wotton's Outspoken podcast, she said: "They can stand there and say, 'The reason that we're suffering is because of online TV, people don't watch TV anymore, they go online for news or entertainment or anything, or streaming services.'
"Maybe it's just because it's rubbish and they just aren't very good at it anymore. They don't consider that.
"When I went back to Loose Women, I thought, 'This is great, we might be able to make Loose Women great again.' But it just proved completely impossible.
"And sometimes, if I've ever seen anything on This Morning or on YouTube or whatever, you just think, 'This is ridiculous! This is not popular. This is not what people want.'
"But they really don't know what people want, and they tell them what they want all the time, and they give it to them and force it down their throats.
"That's probably why.
"A lot of young people never watch television. The fact that ITV thinks, 'If we get all these young influencers on, everyone's going to start watching daytime TV,' is just ridiculous."
As well as Loose Women, the morning magazine show Lorraine will now operate on a 30-week "seasonal basis", while a raft of shows will be broadcast from a new location in central London.
Kevin Lygo, the managing director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, recently said the broadcaster was going through a "transition".
He said: "I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off-screen in our Daytime production teams.
"We will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition.
"Daytime has been a core element of ITV’s schedule for over 40 years and these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award-winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade."
