Why has ITV daytime show Loose Women been pulled off air, what did presenters say about it?

In May of this year ITV announced that there would be a change to scheduling and production of its daytime shows. The statement read: “From January 2026, Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes to run from 6am to 9.30am daily, and will transfer to be produced by ITV News at ITN at their base at Gray’s Inn Road in London.

“GMB will be made by a dedicated team within ITV News at ITN. This change will see ITV bring all its national news gathering into one hub, with Good Morning Britain benefitting from the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins, for the website and for digital platforms including ITVX.”

ITV also made an announcement regarding Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women and said: “Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will continue to be produced by ITV Studios and will be broadcast from a new location in central London.

“ITV Studios is consulting with its Daytime teams about a proposal that from 2026 would see the three editorially distinct shows produced by one team sharing resources and operations. The efficiencies gained from the changes in the production of these shows will be reinvested in other genres while ensuring viewers will continue to see all of the live, topical Daytime shows they know and love.

Why did ITV decide to make these changes?

ITV said: “The changes will fund additional investment in dramas like Mr Bates vs The Post Office and in coverage of the biggest sporting events like next year’s football World Cup as well as the UK’s biggest reality and entertainment shows, and will strengthen ITV’s ability to continue to attract the biggest commercial audiences both on linear channels and online through ITVX.

What did Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, say about the changes?

Kevin Lygo said: “Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production 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 as well generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.

How have Loose Women presenters reacted?

Loose Women star Linda Robson said that “We are all rallying together.” When ITV announced in May it was axing more than 220 jobs, Nadia Sawalha, a Loose Women panellist spoke on her YouTube channel and said: “What's been brutal, absolutely brutal, over the last week, honestly I feel tearful about it, is that hundreds of people... are going to be made redundant out of the blue, these are all the people behind the scenes that support us in every way."

Loose Women will not be on air for the rest of this week due to racing from York that will air live.