# Loose Women
**Loose Women** is a British live weekday lunchtime panel show broadcast on ITV1 at 12:30pm, on which a rotating panel of women discusses topical issues and showbiz news and interviews celebrity guests in front of a studio audience.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/8611/loose-women) It first aired on 6 September 1999 and marked its 25th anniversary in September 2024, by which time ITV described it as Britain's longest-running and only all-female panel show.[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First broadcast | 6 September 1999 on ITV, with Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha, Jane Moore and Baroness Karren Brady on the panel[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) |
| Slot | Weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player[3](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/37771) |
| Output | Approximately 4,550 episodes and specials since the first episode in 1999[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) |
| Audience | Reached 14.4 million people in its anniversary year, the most-watched weekday lunchtime slot on a commercial channel[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) |
| Awards | 12 awards, including a National Television Award (2010), Royal Television Society Awards (2021 and 2023) and National Reality TV Awards (2022, 2023 and 2024)[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) |
| Format | A weekday panel show presented by women, with topical discussion, showbiz news and celebrity interviews in front of a live studio audience[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/8611/loose-women) |
| Current scale | Remaining one hour an episode but reduced to 30 weeks of broadcasts per year following ITV daytime budget cuts[4](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/is-daytime-tv-doomed/) • [17](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/20/itv-to-cut-jobs-slash-budgets-daytime-shows-including-good-morning-britain) |
## Origins and early years
The show was commissioned as a new weekday lunchtime program for ITV. Presenter [Kaye Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaye-adams) described the original remit as talking about "anything and everything from a female point of view", without being limited to women's issues.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/03/how-we-made-loose-women) A Radio Times listing for the week of the first broadcast read: "A new weekday magazine show aimed at women with colorful chat, spicy gossip and celebrities. Hosted by Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha."[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air)
**The original line-up** is described slightly differently by different sources. ITV's anniversary release places Adams, Sawalha, Moore and [Karren Brady](https://www.edgepedia.org/karren-brady) on the panel of the first episode,[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) while an ITV retrospective names Kaye, Nadia and Jane as present on the very first day,[6](https://www.itv.com/loosewomen/articles/loose-look-back-the-women-watch-the-first-ever-episode-of-loose-women) and ITV's Silver Jubilee press pack names [Jane Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-moore), Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and [Ruth Langsford](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruth-langsford) as the four original panellists from the first week of shows.[7](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/sites/default/files/2024-09/EDITED_%20Loose%20Women%2025th%20Year%20Anniversary%20Press%20Pack.pdf) A Woman & Home profile likewise describes Ruth Langsford as part of the original presenting line-up alongside Adams, Sawalha and Moore.[8](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-langsford-item-every-woman-needs-wardrobe/)
The early run was not secure. Adams recalled that the show was commissioned only in short bursts at first, initially for a month and then a further 12-week run, with the panel waiting between recommissions.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/03/how-we-made-loose-women) For a short period around 2000, production moved from London to Granada Television in Manchester and the program was broadcast under the name **Live Talk**; after two series it returned to its original title and London base.[9](https://tvark.org/live-talk)
## Format and panellists
The program is built around a rotating panel of women, most of whom came to daytime television from journalism, acting and reality TV.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/03/police-pc-daytime-tv-hotbed-right-wing-politics-culture-war) Adams described the show's structure as following the natural pattern of female conversation, moving between uproarious laughter, topical debate and emotional subjects.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/03/how-we-made-loose-women) By its 25th anniversary the show featured panellists spanning seven generations, from [Gloria Hunniford](https://www.edgepedia.org/gloria-hunniford), then 84, to [GK Barry](https://www.edgepedia.org/gk-barry), aged 25, the same age as the show itself.[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air)
The panellist roster listed by ITV includes Kaye Adams, Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, Charlene White, Christine Lampard, Judi Love, Nadia Sawalha, Stacey Solomon, Linda Robson, Janet Street-Porter, Brenda Edwards, Jane Moore, Gloria Hunniford, Denise Welch, Kelle Bryan, Frankie Bridge, Katie Piper, Sunetra Sarker, Sophie Morgan and Dame Kelly Holmes.[11](https://www.itv.com/loosewomen/panellists) Janet Street-Porter and [Coleen Nolan](https://www.edgepedia.org/coleen-nolan) have each appeared in more than 1,000 episodes.[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) The show has also produced all-male specials under the title **Loose Men**, which most recently won a Royal Television Society Award, following Loose Women's 2021 RTS accolade.[3](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/37771)
## Campaigns and cultural standing
ITV presents the show as leading conversation on subjects affecting its viewers, through campaigns including *Lighten the Load*, *Facing It Together*, *Don't Skip Your Screening*, *Body Stories* and *Half-Time Team Talk*.[3](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/37771) Editor Sally Shelford cited the program's history of discussing domestic abuse, menopause, miscarriage and grief on television.[2](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air) Evidence submitted to a UK parliamentary committee on suicide prevention described the show's mental health campaign, inspired by the death by suicide of presenter [June Sarpong](https://www.edgepedia.org/june-sarpong)'s brother Sammy and supported by the [Samaritans](https://www.edgepedia.org/samaritans), which aimed to encourage people to talk about their mental health; the same evidence describes Loose Women as a live ITV daytime show broadcast 12:30 to 13:30 on weekdays.[12](https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/74475/html/)
An academic thematic content analysis by Rachel Garland of the [University of Hertfordshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-hertfordshire), published in 2020, examined a year of programming, more than 100 hours of television, together with the show's presence on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, asking to what extent Loose Women as a multimedia brand enables some women to have spectacular visibility while others are obscured, with particular focus on representations of aging anxiety, cosmetic surgery and digitally manipulated images.[13](https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/en/publications/the-social-media-feeds-of-loose-women-taking-the-temperature-of-p/) A 2018 Barb-based analysis reported in Research magazine found the program maintaining audience share but flat, against a backdrop of other shows growing year on year.[14](https://www.mrs.org.uk/pdf/Impact%20ISSUE%2033%20Web-res.pdf)
The show's political framing has drawn commentary. A 2023 Guardian analysis described the program as having become more political in recent years, citing a deleted social media poll on protest that fed into culture-war framing.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/03/police-pc-daytime-tv-hotbed-right-wing-politics-culture-war)
## Recent changes
ITV announced budget cuts to its daytime schedule, cutting Lorraine's episodes from one hour to 30 minutes while Loose Women remains in a one-hour slot and restricting both shows to 30 weeks of broadcasts per year.[4](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/is-daytime-tv-doomed/) The show has since taken extended summer hiatuses, with daytime programs including This Morning, Lorraine, Loose Women and [Good Morning Britain](https://www.edgepedia.org/good-morning-britain) now sharing the same studio.[15](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/cat-deeley-teases-surprises-ahead-of-this-morning-return-you-never-know-what-is-going-to-happen/) [Nadia Sawalha](https://www.edgepedia.org/nadia-sawalha), a panellist since the 1999 launch, expressed fear for her job in June following the changes.[16](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/stacey-solomon-loose-women-quit-panel-budget-cut-b2814239.html)
## References
1. [Loose Women, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/8611/loose-women)
2. [Shining Stars! Loose Women Stun In A New Silver Jubilee Shoot To Mark 25 Years On Air, ITV Press Centre](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/shining-stars-loose-women-stun-new-silver-jubilee-shoot-mark-25-years-air)
3. [Loose Women press pack, ITV Press Centre](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/print/pdf/node/37771)
4. [Is daytime TV doomed? ITV cuts to Lorraine and Loose Women spark a debate among broadcasters, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/is-daytime-tv-doomed/)
5. [How we made Loose Women, The Guardian (3 December 2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/03/how-we-made-loose-women)
6. [Loose Look Back: The women watch the first ever episode of Loose Women, ITV](https://www.itv.com/loosewomen/articles/loose-look-back-the-women-watch-the-first-ever-episode-of-loose-women)
7. [Loose Women 25th Year Anniversary Press Pack, ITV Press Centre](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/sites/default/files/2024-09/EDITED_%20Loose%20Women%2025th%20Year%20Anniversary%20Press%20Pack.pdf)
8. [Ruth Langsford reveals the single item every woman needs in her wardrobe, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-langsford-item-every-woman-needs-wardrobe/)
9. [Live Talk, TVARK](https://tvark.org/live-talk)
10. ['Are the police too PC?' How daytime TV became a hotbed of rightwing politics, The Guardian (3 May 2023)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/03/police-pc-daytime-tv-hotbed-right-wing-politics-culture-war)
11. [Panellists, Loose Women, ITV](https://www.itv.com/loosewomen/panellists)
12. [SPR0148 - Evidence on Suicide Prevention, UK Parliament Committees](https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/74475/html/)
13. [The social media feeds of Loose Women: Taking the temperature of popular feminism, University of Hertfordshire Research Profiles](https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/en/publications/the-social-media-feeds-of-loose-women-taking-the-temperature-of-p/)
14. [UK World view, Research (MRS), Issue 33](https://www.mrs.org.uk/pdf/Impact%20ISSUE%2033%20Web-res.pdf)
15. [Cat Deeley teases surprises ahead of This Morning return, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/cat-deeley-teases-surprises-ahead-of-this-morning-return-you-never-know-what-is-going-to-happen/)
16. [Stacey Solomon denies quitting Loose Women panel amid ITV budget cuts, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/stacey-solomon-loose-women-quit-panel-budget-cut-b2814239.html)
17. [ITV to cut jobs and slash budgets of daytime shows including Good Morning Britain](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/20/itv-to-cut-jobs-slash-budgets-daytime-shows-including-good-morning-britain)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Television talk, interview, and variety programs › Daytime and syndicated talk shows*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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