Carol McGiffin has unleashed a scathing critique of her former show Loose Women, describing the ITV programme as a “poor relation”. In an explosive chat with Dan Wootton on his Outspoken podcast, the broadcaster, who left the show in 2023, didn’t hold back in her assessment of the daytime talk show and took a swipe at ITV bosses.
This comes after ITV’s announcement in May about its decision to cut over 220 jobs, potentially affecting programmes like Lorraine and Loose Women, which could see its episodes reduced to just 30 per year.
In her tirade, Carol, aged 65, insinuated that “online TV” was being blamed for their “suffering”. However, she also implied that the quality of the show itself might be the issue, as reported by Woman’s Own.
Carol remarked: “They can stand there and say the reason we’re suffering is because of online TV. Maybe it’s just because it’s rubbish, and they just aren’t very good at it any more.”
But Carol’s criticism wasn’t limited to ITV; she also targeted her former Loose Women co-stars, although she acknowledged some sympathy for them.
She continued: “I do feel for them. But I don’t buy into this ‘all their worlds have fallen apart because this show has ended’. Hang on a minute – what did you expect? Did you think it was just going on forever? Especially in the way it is.”
Carol continued:”The (Loose) women are apparently absolutely raging about it – I haven’t spoken to any of them about it. They are like, ‘We were kept in the dark’. They never know what’s going on. Loose Women is the poor relation so is suffering the most.”
However, Carol isn’t the only panellist voicing her concerns about the cuts. In May, Nadia Sawalha used her YouTube channel to express her feelings on a situation she described as “absolutely brutal”.
Nadia shared how she’d been left feeling “tearful” over the anticipated redundancies, a move she said was “out of the blue” and would affect those who worked “behind the scenes”.
This comes amidst rumours that the panel could also face cuts, with Nadia explaining how she “could be let go tomorrow, [or] I could be let go in five years”.
She stated: “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.”
Addressing the plans, Kevin Lygo, the managing director of ITV studios, acknowledged daytime TV as “a really important part”, adding that he understood the move “will have an impact on staff”.
Meanwhile, during the weeks when Lorraine is not aired, Good Morning Britain will gain an extra half an hour, while This Morning is set to maintain its weekday slot throughout the year, according to the BBC.
Following on from an earlier decision to trim ITV’s two leading soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, audience members can expect one hour less of these programmes per week starting from 2026.
Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV’s chief executive, spoke earlier this year about how the media firm had been making “good progress” with its money-saving ventures and was set to rake in £30million in non-content savings this year.