Coleen Nolan breaks silence on ‘devastating’ impact of ITV Loose Women cuts
Coleen Nolan has spoken out about the “devastating” impact of ITV’s daytime schedule changes, which will see Loose Women reduced to 30 weeks per year.
The presenter, who celebrated 25 years on the show this year, expressed deep concern for the programme’s behind-the-scenes staff who face an uncertain future.
“The crew have become family. I’ve watched them grow,” she told Notebook magazine.
“Some of our runners from back in the day are producers, married with kids. I’ve shared my life with them. They’re in limbo, not knowing what they’re going to do.”
The changes form part of a major overhaul of ITV’s daytime programming.
Under the new plans, production teams across This Morning, Lorraine and Loose Women will be merged, with the panel show running for just 30 weeks annually.
Sources have indicated that whilst the on-screen panel is expected to remain largely unchanged, redundancies are likely among production staff.
“Loose Women isn’t ending, which I’m so thankful for, but it’s changing. It’s going to be very different in the respect of the size of the crew, but it’s still running,” Coleen said.
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The restructuring also affects Lorraine Kelly’s programme, which will be cut to 30 minutes daily and reduced to 30 weeks per year.
Coleen revealed her heartbreak at seeing colleagues face uncertainty, particularly those with young families and mortgages.
“It’s heartbreaking to see some of my colleagues not knowing what they’re going to do. Many of them have young families and mortgages,” she said.
The 60-year-old presenter, who joined the series in 2000 alongside Jane Moore, Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and Ruth Langsford, admitted she had never experienced anything like the current situation.
“I’ve never been so close to it. It’s made me realise how much this is happening across the whole country at the moment and it’s devastating,” she told the publication.
Coleen reflected on how the situation had given her a new perspective on redundancies happening nationwide.
“You read about it all the time – a chain store’s shutting down and 300 people are affected. You go, ‘Oh that’s awful. Anyway, what do you want for dinner?’, because it doesn’t directly affect you,” she said.
Good Morning Britain will extend its broadcast to 9.30am to fill Lorraine’s reduced slot, running until 10am during weeks when Lorraine is off air entirely.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, said the changes would “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”.