'Loose Women' icon shuts down rumours she'll return to the ITV talk show 10 years after her departure

A ‘Loose Women’ star has shut down rumours that she is going to return to the ITV talk show, ten years after she first left the all-female panel television show.

Jane McDonald has said that she wouldn’t return to the show now - and it’s because she no longer has any friends on the panel.

The 60-year-old was a regular face on the hit lunchtime programme for ten years between 2004 and 2014 and was tipped to take a place behind the desk again for the 25th anniversary special. But, so far she has not reappeared.

She has now confirmed she will not return, and has explained why the panel is no longer for her in an interview with a women’s magazine. She has said that the cast, as it was when she was there, had a strong bond - but the current line-up is constantly plagued by feud rumours.

She told Woman magazine: “Never say never. But it was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now. And it was an era of girls who were not just colleagues – we were a force to be reckoned with. We were like ‘Sex and the City’ when we hit the town. We’d have taken a bullet for each other. I don’t think I could go back without my friends on the same panel.”

McDonald’s rep also previously shut down reports she would be back on the show, and now the TV presenter and singer has confirmed herself. Her rep said: "There are no discussions taking place with regards to Jane returning to ‘Loose Women’ whatsoever. She always thoroughly enjoys going back as a guest and catching up with the ladies but there's no plans to go back as a panellist."

During her time on the show, McDonald appeared alongside the likes of Carol McGiffin, Lisa Maxwell and Denise Welsh, Linda Bellingham and Andrea McLean. Since her time as a panellist, she has returned to the show to talk about the various television programmes she presents, as well as personal issues inculuding the death of her partner Eddie Rothe.

McDonald is also known for fronting various shows including ‘Cruising with Jane McDonald’, ‘Holidaying with Jane McDonald’ and ‘Jane McDonald: My Yorkshire’.