Loose Women

{{Infobox television | show_name = Loose Women | image = Loose Women 2014 Logo.png | genre = Panel show | creator = Diane Nelmes^[1]

| presenter =

| starring =

| country = United Kingdom | num_series = 21 | num_episodes = 2,815 (as of 28 July 2017) | list_episodes = List of Loose Women episodes | executive_producer = Emma Gormley

| producer =

Loose Women is a British panel show that has been broadcast on ITV since 6 September 1999. The programme was originally broadcast from Norwich before moving to London and focuses on a panel of four female presenters, who interview celebrities, discuss their lives and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip. The show's current presenters are Ruth Langsford, Andrea McLean and Christine Lampard.

The programme has been simulcast in the Republic of Ireland on UTV Ireland, now known as be3, since January 2015. Its 2500th episode was broadcast on 29 April 2016.

Presenters

The panel comprises four women from various professions in the entertainment and journalism industries.

Carol McGiffin holds the record for the most appearances; she appeared in 1,172 episodes between 2003 and 2013, followed by Andrea McLean, Coleen Nolan, Sherrie Hewson, Jane McDonald, Lisa Maxwell, Kaye Adams, Denise Welch and Janet Street-Porter, Nadia Sawalha & Lynda Bellingham respectively.

Series 1–3

Adams and Nadia Sawalha were the original presenters on the show. Sawalha left in 2002, after the birth of her first child; Adams kept the role for the first ten series until the end of 2006, when she left to go on maternity leave.^[2]

Adams, Sawalha, Jane Moore and Karren Brady were the panellists who appeared in the very first episode and Ruth Langsford appeared in the second episode.

Series 4–10

Denise Welch, Gloria Hunniford and Linda Robson first appeared as guest panellists during the third, fourth and fifth series respectively before later becoming regular panellists. McGiffin and Hewson, currently the longest serving panellist, began their stints as regular panellists at the start of the fourth series, whilst Nolan had a brief stint in the second series before returning regularly from the sixth series.

Series 11–17

From 2007 to 2009, the presenter job was mainly shared by McLean and Jackie Brambles. Following Brambles' departure in August 2009,^[3] Kate Thornton took over from her during the following month and continued to present the show in rotation with McLean until August 2011. Jane McDonald also took a 16-month hiatus to focus of her music, returning in 2012. On December 14, McDonald announced her return live on air with a surprise phone call. Following a relaunch in September 2011, the role of presenter was shared between McLean and Carol Vorderman, replacing Thornton, coinciding with the departures of Nolan, Zoë Tyler and Lynda Bellingham. McDonald returned on January 16, 2012. Linda Robson was introduced as a regular panellist in 2013, after appearing several times previous as a guest stand in.

Series 18

Loose Women underwent a presenter revamp for its 18th series, following the departure of McGiffin at the end of series 17.^[4] Long-running panellists Welch, McDonald and Lisa Maxwell also departed from the programme in October 2013, December 2013 and March 2014 respectively.^[5]

Many former presenters were reintroduced for the 18th series of the programme. Nolan, Sawalha and Moore returned as panellists during October 2013, whilst Adams returned as presenter in November.^[6] Later, Langsford rejoined the programme as a presenter in January 2014.^[7]

Jamelia and Myleene Klass joined the programme as panellists in November 2013 and January 2014 respectively.^[8]

Series 19

The panel underwent a further presenter revamp for its 19th series following the departures of Vorderman,^[9] Sally Lindsay and Shobna Gulati. Klass and Claire Richards, who had been panellists for series 18, also did not return. Gloria Hunniford, Penny Lancaster and Judy Finnigan were announced as new panellists. June Sarpong later joined the show on 23 March 2015. The series also featured a total revamp in the style of the show, with the logo, set and theme tune changed dramatically, and the panellists walking out to their respective seats at the start, behind a smaller desk, closer to the audience.

In this series a book club, Loose Books, was introduced; a panellist picks a book which the audience and the other panellists read. The first was chosen by Nolan called 'The Girl On The Train' by Paula Hawkins which as a result went to number 1.

Series 20

September 2015

Having featured prominently throughout series 19, Judy Finnigan and Linda Lusardi did not return to the panel, though their departures were not officially announced. Businesswomen Hilary Devey and Saira Khan were announced as new panellists, while former EastEnders actress Anita Dobson temporarily joined the regular panellists as cover for Jamelia, whose absence was due to her participation in Strictly Come Dancing.^[10] September also marked the introduction of Kaye Adams as a regular panellist (as opposed to a regular presenter), through she made guest appearances as a presenter.

January 2016

From January 2016, Katie Price and Vicky Pattison joined the cast as regular panellists, whilst Devey did not return after the Christmas break.^[11]

There was no summer break this series.^[12] Therefore, guest panellists featured heavily, notably Ayda Field, Nadiya Hussain, Martine McCutcheon, Lisa Riley and Stacey Solomon.

On 22 June 2016, Sir Cliff Richard sat down for a one-on-one interview with close friend Gloria Hunniford for a special edition of Loose Women subtitled Sir Cliff: Out of the Shadows.^[13]

On 3 August 2016, Sherrie Hewson announced on-air that she wold be leaving the show. Her final episode aired on 5 September 2016.^[14]

Series 21

Series 21 began airing on ITV on 5 September 2016 – with a farewell party for Sherrie Hewson. Stacey Solomon, Martine McCutcheon and Lisa Riley began appearing as regular panellists. Jamelia and Vicky Pattison didn't return for Series 21. Coleen Nolan Made her 1000th appearance on the panel on 5 December 2016. Anne Diamond joined the panel in October to fill in for Katie Price and then Stacey Solomon, before becoming a regular in January 2017 replacing June Sarpong who didn't return following the Christmas/New Year Break. Christine Lampard began serving as a presenter also in January 2017 after previously guest presenting a few episodes in December 2016. On 17 April 2017 (Easter Monday) a 75-minute compilation show entitled Loose Women – Most Shocking Moments aired in place of a normal episode. A 75-minute show also aired on 29th May 2017 called Loose Women & Loved Ones featuring Ruth Langsford & Eamonn Holmes, Stacey Solomon & Joe Swash, Katie Price & Kieran Hayler and guest panellist Ola Jordan with husband James Jordan. On 7 July 2017, Stacey Solomon revealed in an interview with The Sun (United Kingdom) that show bosses are planning to shake up the panel and not renew contracts of certain panellists. ^[15] It's rumoured that with all panellists contracts up for renewal ahead of series 22 in September 2017, there may be some changes to the panel.

Current panel

See List of Loose Women episodes for presenters per episode.

Loose Books

From March 2015 Loose Books was launched. Similar to Richard and Judy's Book Club. The idea is that a panellist picks a book which the audience and the other panellists read. The first was chosen by Coleen Nolan called 'The Girl On The Train' by Paula Hawkins which as a result went to number 1. As of 2016, Loose Books is no longer a feature on the show.

Related programming

On 19 November 2010, as part of Children in Need 2010, Andrea McLean, Sherrie Hewson, Carol McGiffin, Zoe Tyler and Denise Welch performed Girls Aloud's song "The Promise" as Nanas Aloud.^[16]

Loose @ 5.30

Loose @ 5.30 aired at 5.30pm on ITV for two weeks from 29 May 2006. This teatime spin-off of Loose Women was a slight twist on the original format; the panel was composed of both men and women for the first time.^[17] The programme was co-presented by Kaye Adams and Ted Robbins. Panellists from Loose Women included Adams, Hewson, McGiffin, Welch, Jane McDonald and Coleen Nolan. They were joined by male panellists Jason Gardiner and Jeff Brazier.

Live Talk

Live Talk was a re-branding of Loose Women. The programme lasted for two series, the first in 2000 and the second in 2001, and was co-presented by Adams and Sawalha.^[18] Panellists from Loose Women included Adams, Sawalha, Nolan, Karren Brady and Pattie Coldwell. They were joined by new regular panellists McGiffin, Anne Diamond, Emily Symons, Jenny Powell, Jenni Trent Hughes, Denise Black, Kathryn Apanowicz, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Kim Hughes. Guest panellists included Welch (2001), Lorraine Kelly (2000), Jenni Murray (2000), Tracy Shaw (2000), Sally Gunnell (2001), Julie Peasgood (2001), Kate Garraway (2001), Lauren Booth (2001), Heather Mills (2001) and Sheila Hancock (2001).

International variations

• In the United States, The Talk debuted in 2010, and The Real in 2013.
• In Germany, Frauenzimmer aired between 26 October 2009 and 20 November 2009. The show was cancelled due to poor ratings.^[19]
• In Australia, The Circle first aired in 2010 and has a similar format. The show, which also features cookery and makeover segments, is a popular daytime show on Network Ten.
• In France, Le Grand 8 has been aired since October 2012 on weekdays from 12.10 to 13.25 on D8 free digital terrestrial channel, part of Canal + group. The host, Laurence Ferrari, former presenter of TF1 8 pm newscast, and four panellists discuss on topics such as politics, health, trends, business and culture.
• In Ireland, Midday first aired in 2008 on TV3. Midday has been described as an Irish Loose Women but a TV3 representative said "We're not going to be like Loose Women though, they seem to do a lot of men bashing and talking about their sex lives, we certainly won't be doing that"
• In Mexico, Netas Divinas first aired in 2012. It is among the few variations of the programme to be aired in other countries, having aired in other Latin American countries as well as on Galavision in the United States.
• In Canada, The Social first aired in 2013 on CTV Television Network.

Merchandise

In late 2008, ITV released Let Loose: The Very Best of Loose Women, a DVD featuring highlights of Series 12 and 13. The DVD is introduced by Brambles and Nolan, with McDonald and McGiffin giving an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the set at The London Studios.^[20] A second DVD was released in November 2009, entitled Late Night with the Loose Women. The extended programme features McLean, Hewson, McGiffin and McDonald discussing raunchier topics than the television timeslot permits, and includes appearances by guests Will Mellor, Rustie Lee and Christopher Biggins.^[21] A 2010 DVD release saw McGiffin, Hewson, Maxwell and Welch visit New York, titled Loose Women in New York: Let Loose in the City. The DVD was released on 8 November 2010.^[22] A further DVD titled Christmas with the Loose Women was issued in 2012, presented by McLean, McGiffin, Welch and Maxwell. With behind the scenes footage.

A range of books have also been published under the brand which has expanded further with an online shop selling make-up products, champagne, personalised cups and stationery.^[23]

Awards and nominations

References

External links