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Loose Women
File:Loose-women-banner.jpg
Presented by	Andrea McLean Jackie Brambles
Starring	Carol McGiffin Jane McDonald Coleen Nolan Lynda Bellingham Sherrie Hewson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	14
Production
Producer	ITV Productions
Production location	The London Studios
Running time	60 mins
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	6 September 1999
Related
The View

Loose Women is a British, televised talk show, which was first broadcast in 1999 as a summer replacement for ITV's This Morning. It consists of a panel of four women who discuss topical issues ranging from daily political issues and current affairs to the world of gossip and interview celebrity guests before a studio audience. It airs in the afternoon on ITV from Monday to Friday. It shares a similar format to The View.

Production

When it began, the series was filmed in London. After the second series in 2000, the show moved to a Manchester studio and was briefly re-branded as "Live Talk". In 2002, "Loose Women" returned for a third run and by the fourth series a year later, it had moved to a studio in Norwich. For series six in 2004, the show returned to The London Studios where it has remained in Studio 3, although the set has been updated three times. The show enjoys high viewing figures in its daytime slot, and has gained a cult following, particularly among students and the elderly. Some of the week's episodes are pre-recorded, and some are shown live.

Panelists

The panel is comprised of four women from various professions in the entertainment and journalism industries, including actresses, singers, authors, presenters and reporters. Although all four women are classed as presenters in the credits, one acts as the main anchor, linking to breaks and competitions and addressing the television audience. Kaye Adams filled this role for the first ten series until the end of 2006, when she left to go on maternity leave. Adams was expected to return for a new series, but in August 2007 she confirmed in her newspaper column that after 7 years, she decided that she wanted to move on to other projects and would not be returning. Occasionally regular panelists such as Carol McGiffin and Denise Welch assume the position of anchor and there is occasional guest hosts, such as Carole Malone and Ruth Langsford; however, since 2007, the job has been mainly shared by Jackie Brambles and Andrea McLean.

Spin-Off

Loose @ 5.30 aired at 5.30pm on ITV for two weeks from Monday, 29th May 2006. This teatime version of Loose Women was a slight twist on the original format because the panel was composed of both men and women for the first time.Kaye Adams and Ted Robbins anchored each show with two more panellists, sometimes both female but usually another male and female.

The other panellists included Sherrie Hewson, Jane McDonald, Carol McGiffin, Coleen Nolan and Denise Welch from the Loose Women team and former Loose Women guests Jason Gardiner and Jeff Brazier. The spin-off did not prove popular and Loose Women was moved back to its original lunchtime slot and is currently being shown weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV.

Controversies

In 2004, panelist Jenni Trent Hughes made headlines in the UK after she confessed that she had secretly had an orgasm live on air, while Loose Women was being broadcast. She said: "You learn how to do it in your head. I once did it sitting here. With my hands up. It was because of a guest". Hughes then revealed that it was caused by her attraction to guest, Martin Shaw.

In 2005, guest Dame Eileen Atkins — who was 70 at the time — revealed on Loose Women that a "stunningly gorgeous big film star" spent nearly three hours propositioning her for "sex with no strings". The "star" was later revealed to be actor Colin Farrell, whom Atkins had acted alongside in the film, Ask The Dust. Atkins claimed she was tempted, but turned him down because he is 42 years her junior.

On 17 June 2008, comedienne Joan Rivers was a guest on the show and made an error by not realising that the show was completely live and not recorded. She appeared to believe that the producers would "bleep" her swearing and said the words "fucking shit", referring to film star Russell Crowe, which subsequently went live to the public on ITV at approximately 1pm in the afternoon. The co-hosts immediately apologised for Rivers' outburst and during the commercial break she was asked to leave the set and not invited to come back for her final segment. A spokesperson for the show says, "Guests are always briefed that it is a live daytime show and are reminded not to swear or use inappropriate language. An editorial decision was taken that Joan Rivers should not appear in the final part of the programme. We would like to apologise to Loose Women viewers for the inappropriate language used on today's show." Rivers, for her part, finds it all quite funny. "I said: 'I apologise.' Everyone apologised. It was hilariously funny," she says. Joan adds that this was the first time she had been removed from a TV show in 40 years and she was "thrilled".

Criticism

On 6 June 2008, the program was criticised by British newspaper The Guardian as offensive and hateful to both men and women, for being sexist, and a case of feminism gone too far due to the concept of having a politically incorrect representation of an all-female cast of panelists.

Awards

Former Panelists

References

1. "LOOSE WOMAN: THE KAYE ADAMS COLUMN". Daily Record. 4 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. "TV Jenni is hot on air". The Sun. 15 September 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. "Colin rejected by 70yr-old". The Sun. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. "COLIN FARRELL BEGGED 70-YEAR-OLD ACTRESS FOR SEX". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. "Is Loose Women hateful". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-06-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. "The loose cannons of daytime TV". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-06-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

• Loose Women at itv.com
• Loose Women at IMDb
• Loose Women Audience Tickets

Template:LooseWomenHosts

• ITV television programmes
• 1999 television series debuts
• 1990s British television series
• 2000s British television series
• Television talk shows