Loose Women taken off ITV schedule as bosses pull show in TV shake-up

Loose Women has been taken off the ITV schedule for the rest of this week.

The panel show was binned off by TV higher-ups in favour of Cheltenham Festival, the coverage for which will take it's regular daytime slot. It means the programme, headed up by the likes of Denise Welch and Janet Street-Porter, won't be back on our screens until Monday, 18 March.

It comes after last Friday's Loose Women show was also cancelled due to the government's budget speech, which was covered by ITV News. This Morning also finished 15 minutes earlier that day.

This Morning presenter Craig Doyle said: "The show is slightly shorter today because it's budget day. We are all going to be so much richer at the end of today."

The rest of the ITV schedule is unaffected by Cheltenham Festival, with Good Morning Britain running from 6-9am, followed by Lorraine from 9-10am and This Morning from 10am-12.30pm.

In today's episode of Loose Women, Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, Denise Welch and Katie Piper sat on the panel to discuss the Oscar Academy Award winners, including the best and worst outfits from the evening and more celebrity gossip.

Cheltenham Festival is four days of horse racing at the eponymous racecourse, culminating in the prestigious Gold Cup Day.