Loose Women cast share heartache for missing fifth member after ITV overhaul

The cast of Loose Women have shared their heartache after a vital member of the team was cut following ITV's major cuts to daytime TV. At the start of the year, the corporation announced its plans to revamp the lunchtime show, amongst others, as part of new cost-saving measures for the broadcaster. In January, ITV moved to a smaller studio set, transforming many of our favourite morning programmes.

But this had a huge impact on Loose Women, who announced they had permanently removed their live studio audience as part of budget cuts in the new London studio. The hour-long show, which now operates on a 30-week schedule, has moved to a podcast-style feel without audience laughter or applause.

Now, some of the presenters have shared how they really feel about the major changes to the programme. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk at the Royal Television Society Awards, Kelly Bryan argued that these changes have pushed the show back to its operations during the global pandemic.

She explained: "It's actually like a return back to Covid times, so during Covid we had no guests and it was all about the chat. Now, we get longer extended times to actually have the conversations.

"The conversations are about to evolve a bit more, and we're able to explore that conversation a bit more, whereas before, we'd go, 'Oh, I wish we had longer than that'. Whereas now, we can really discuss those topics and thrash them out."

However, Colleen Nolan admitted that she's not warmed to the changes on set. She confessed: "I do miss the audience, though. We've kind of got used to it now, but the first couple of weeks were weird. They just can't be there anymore because [the new studio] is just too small; we can't fit them in. It's three shows in one studio.

"But if they could, and they said, 'Would you like them back?' I think we'd jump at it because they really lifted the show. No daytime show has a live audience." Her co-host, Brenda Edwards, agreed: "They were our fifth Loose Women. That's the way we consider the audience."

And they aren't the only ones who are disappointed with the new year changes. When the show returned to the airwaves for the first time in the new studio on January 5, fans flocked to X - formerly known as Twitter - to share their disappointment online.

One user penned: "Omg how weird is LooseWomen with no audience!!" as another agreed: "No audience, it's just empty." A third argued: "The audience helped bring a fantastic atmosphere and now decided that it's not important anymore."