THERE was a time when TV’s Loose Women grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with the panel’s infighting overshadowing even the juiciest of topics.
Bust-ups between hosts including Carol McGiffin and Janet Street-Porter became the norm on the ITV daytime show.
But in recent years the series has quietly undergone an incredible transformation that this week saw it scoop a Royal Television Society award.
The Loose Women collected the gong for Best Daytime Show, with judges praising it as “highly informative, sensitively produced” and showing “real respect for its audience”.
And they did all that while retaining viewers — and adding more year on year.
The glow-up is beyond ITV bosses’ wildest dreams, even though they always had faith the feisty ladies would come good.
It is something The Sun’s Jane Moore spotted from the off when she joined the very first panel on September 6, 1999.
Downright nasty
She recalls: “At the end of an audition for a new, all-female debate show back in 1999, I was asked to say to camera, ‘I’m Jane Moore and I’m a Loose Woman’.
“I flatly refused and, consequently, thought I’d never hear from them again.
“But they wanted strong, opinionated women who knew their own minds, so luckily my determined stance worked in my favour.”
Jane became one of the show’s voices of reason, which, let’s face it, cannot be said for all the cast.
And for many years, it was that edgy behaviour that dominated headlines.
ITV would probably rather forget the day in 2014 when Judy Finnigan caused an outcry with her comments defending footballer Ched Evans, a convicted rapist, in a discussion about his potential return to the game.
She said: “The rape was not violent, he didn’t cause any bodily harm to the person.”
Janet Street-Porter raised eyebrows in 2015 when she compared a photo of Prince George to a “cross-dressing millionaire”.
Singer Jamelia was apparently dropped in 2017 after she argued plus-size fashion “facilitated people living an unhealthy lifestyle” and criticised women who chose to become mothers later in life.
There has been beef between the women, too, with Denise Welch revealing that she refused to sit on the panel with Janet Street-Porter.
Carol McGiffin, who was a regular until 2023, scrapped with co-host Andrea McLean over being missed off her wedding list.
Occasional panellist Myleene Klass seemed to hit the nail on the head when in 2014 she said Loose Women had become “a bit misogynistic, a bit post-menopausal or pre-menopausal and ranty”.
Host Saira Khan echoed those sentiments in late 2021 when she quit, saying: “It just becomes toxic for women.
“It’s a show for women but I don’t feel like it empowered me.”
She added: “People think you’re best friends with everybody on Loose Women.
“You’re absolutely not.
“You have to just tolerate [some people] because you’ve got to get the job done.”
Everyone involved has played their part in making this show as relevant today as it was when it started, an incredible 25 years ago.
ITV’s boss of daytime, Emma Gormley
That troubled history makes Loose Women’s win at the highbrow RTS awards on Tuesday night all the more impressive.
The girls beat well-regarded shows BBC Breakfast and Clive Myrie’s Caribbean Adventure, with the award collected on the night by Charlene White and Denise Welch.
Helping them win was the episode that launched the programme’s Facing It Together domestic abuse campaign.
Charlene said: “I’m overjoyed that we picked up the Best Daytime Programme award for the very special show that launched our campaign.
“We are so proud of the bravery of all the survivors who shared their stories.
“Our message has always been that if you are a survivor or a friend, we are all Facing It Together.”
ITV’s boss of daytime, Emma Gormley, added: “From the talented Loose Women team behind the scenes, to our brilliant onscreen women, winning the prestigious Royal Television Society award for Best Daytime Programme is a defining moment for us all.
“Everyone involved has played their part in making this show as relevant today as it was when it started, an incredible 25 years ago.
“This is a fitting tribute to the hardworking teams who continue to evolve and modernise the biggest and best shows in daytime. I couldn’t be prouder.”
So how has the lunchtime staple become such a winner for ITV?
The Facing It Together campaign is just one of the show’s efforts to do good.
Fun and young
Loose Women celebrated its silver jubilee in November with a 25-hour Talkathon to raise awareness for the Britain Get Talking mental awareness campaign.
They have worked with Anti-Bullying Week, and celebrated all shapes and sizes in their Body Stories campaign.
The team also received a TV Bafta nomination last May for a special episode of Loose Women & Men to mark Black History Month.
There are now regular Loose Men episodes, which have helped carry the baton for Facing It Together, featuring interviews with male survivors of domestic abuse.
All are worthy of acclaim from sensible bodies like the Royal Television Society.
But is that really what has got more viewers tuning in year on year?
The show reaches 2.5million people a week, up 700,000 on last year, with much of that boost coming from online catch-up platform ITVX.
That is most likely down to bosses’ clever hiring of fun, young panellists who have bonded brilliantly with long-term favourites including Ruth Langsford, Kaye Adams and Christine Lampard.
Former Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge, 36, started the charge when she joined in 2021, bringing a refreshing new voice on motherhood and fashion.
But things got really exciting when Love Islander Olivia Attwood, 33, joined in 2023.
After being introduced to a wider audience during her stint on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! in 2022 — which was cut short when blood tests revealed dangerously low iron levels — she has made waves with her humour and bold opinions.
ITV employed the same strategy when they cast TikTok star GK Barry, 25, for both the telly jungle and Loose Women, where she is seen as the voice of Gen Z.
The witty content creator has brought new life to the show, which is affectionately known as “Loosey Wims” by younger viewers.
Execs have kept up with media trends too — but they always stay true to the show’s core premise of girls having a natter.
A podcast spin-off reached the top three in Apple’s UK podcast chart in its first week earlier this month and is gathering pace.
The women have even been on a sell-out live tour to meet their fans face to face.
Sun columnist Jane is still a proud panellist on the show and wrote passionately about its might when it was nominated for a Bafta a year ago.
She said: “When we’re not fiercely debating a hot topic, it can also be fantastic fun.
“I have made friends for life on the show, and just doing it is reward enough.
“But when it gets recognised as the tour de force it is — not least with a nomination from Bafta — then it’s the icing on the cake.”
