Linda Robson would be devastated if Loose Women was axed completely
Loose Women panellist Linda Robson hopes that ITV thinks about the viewers amid talk that daytime staple could be axed altogether.
Linda Robson would be "very sad" if Loose Women was cancelled altogether.
ITV has announced that the daytime show will only air for 30 weeks per year from 2026 and Linda hopes that executives at the broadcaster think about the programme's loyal viewers instead of wielding the axe completely amid cost-cutting measures.
The 67-year-old actress told The Sun newspaper: "Well, you just have to stay positive, really, don't ya?
"I think it'd be very sad if it got cancelled because of all the people that are watching at home, especially like older people and that was sitting down, looking forward to watching it every day."
It has been reported that the studio audience for Loose Women will be cut as part of the cost-saving measures and Linda feels sympathy for both the fans and the production staff who have been working on the show since it first aired back in 1999.
The Birds of a Feather star - who has featured on the panel since 2012 - said: "A lot of them have been doing it for 25 years, so, but hopefully, maybe, like in the new year, they'll be able to get the audience back and carry on as normal."
Linda has dismissed speculation that there will be no more celebrity guests on Loose Women but accepts that financial reasons are behind the decision to remove the studio audience.
She said: "We'll always have guests on there, but the studio audience, I think it cost them quite a lot of money to have security and everything for the audience.
"It'll be very sad if we can't have the audience. But during Covid, we didn't have an audience, we just got on with it."
Robson stressed that the Loose Women panellists are "rallying together" ahead of the impending changes and expressed hope that the programme can come through the challenging period.
She said: "I'd like to see it continue as it always has done, really.
"It's just a shame, because so many people are losing their jobs, the security guards and some of the producers.
"So, hopefully they'll find somewhere else to work."
Linda added: "We are (like a family), we've all been through everything together as well, you know, births, weddings and deaths.
"We've all been very close, and we all look after each other."
