Loose Women

Loose Women
Loose Women logo (2011—)
Format	Talk show
Presented by	Andrea McLean Carol Vorderman
Starring	Jenny Eclair Sherrie Hewson Sally Lindsay Lisa Maxwell Jane McDonald Carol McGiffin Janet Street-Porter Denise Welch (See full list)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	16[1]
Production
Executive producer(s)	Sharon Powers
Producer(s)	Richard Stowe Andy Tippins Natasha Neeson
Editor(s)	Emily Humphries
Location(s)	The London Studios
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	ITV Studios (2005–) Granada Television (1999–2002) Anglia Television (2002–05)
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) (also ITV1 HD/STV HD/UTV HD)
Original run	6 September 1999[1] – present
External links
Website

Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip. Each series typically airs from the beginning of September of one year to the start of August of the next, while also taking a break over Christmas.^[2][3]

Due to a decline in ratings between January and June 2011, changes were made to the show upon the launch of its sixteenth series that September.^[4] Changes included a new lineup: anchor Kate Thornton and panellists Zoe Tyler^[5][6] and Coleen Nolan left the show,^[7] while new presenter Carol Vorderman and panellist Sally Lindsay both started on the programme.

Panel

The panel comprises four women from various professions in the entertainment and journalism industries, including actresses, singers, authors, presenters, journalists 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 and Nadia Sawalha were the original presenters: Sawalha left in 2002, after the birth of her first child; Adams kept the 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.^[8]

From 2007 to 2009, the anchor job was mainly shared by Jackie Brambles and Andrea McLean who each presented for two or three days every week, as well as covering for one another's leave. Following Brambles' departure in August 2009,^[9] Kate Thornton took over from her during the following month and continued to present the show in rotation with McLean until August 2011.

Following a relaunch in September 2011, the role of anchor is shared between McLean and Carol Vorderman, replacing Thornton. Since the programme's return in September 2011, McLean hosts the show on Monday and Wednesday, Vorderman hosts on Tuesday and Thursday, and the pair alternate on Friday. When one of the presenter is unable to host the show, usually the other presenter, or a guest presenter, will cover.

The panellists also rotate throughout the week, with three of them appearing on each show. Lisa Maxwell sits next to the anchor, Carol McGiffin sits in the next seat along, and Jane McDonald sits at the far end of the panel. If these panellists do not appear their seats are usually filled by Sally Lindsay, Janet Street Porter and Sherrie Hewson respectively. Denise Welch, Jenny Eclair and Lynda Bellingham move around to accommodate the other panellists.

Panellists

Current panellists

As of March 17, 2012, the programme's current panellists are:

Former panellists

Logo (2009-2011)

Former panellists are listed by the year they first appeared on the programme.

Anchors

If neither anchor is available to present, a guest anchor is often brought in, or a regular presenter covers.

Panellists

Related programming

Loose @ 5.30

Loose @ 5.30 aired at 5.30pm on ITV for two weeks from 29 May 2006. This teatime spin-off of Loose Women was a slight twist on the original format; the panel was composed of both men and women for the first time.^[10]

Live Talk

Live Talk was a re-branding of Loose Women. The programme lasted 2 series; the first in 2000 and the second in 2001 and was co-anchored by Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha.^[11]

On 19 November 2010, as part of Children in Need 2010, McLean, Zoe Tyler, McGiffin, Hewson and Welch performed Girls Aloud's song The Promise as Nanas Aloud.^[12]

International variations

• In the USA, The View first aired in 1997 and The Talk debuted in 2010
• In Germany, Frauenzimmer aired between 26 October 2009 and 20 November 2009. The show was cancelled due to poor ratings.^[13]
• In Australia, The Circle first aired in 2010 and has a similar format. Yet, there is also cookery and makeovers, it is a popular daytime show on Network Ten.

Criticism and controversy

On 6 June 2008, the programme 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 panellists, as well as the lecherous and patronising behaviour of the panellists.^[14][15]

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.^[16][17] She said "get ready to bleep this" before calling film star Russell Crowe a "fucking shit", which subsequently went live to the public on ITV at approximately 1pm in the afternoon. Anchor Jackie Brambles immediately apologised for Rivers' outburst as the audience laughed hysterically, and during the commercial break Rivers was asked to leave the set and not invited to come back for her final segment. A spokesperson for the show said, "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".^[18]

After winning the 2010 National Television Award for "Most Popular Factual Programme", Jan Moir from the Daily Mail wrote an article entitled "How was Loose Women voted best factual TV show when it is fronted by a gaggle of sexual incontinents?". The article goes on to discuss how it shows a feminist viewpoint as well as its sexual content, for example, "'I don't like a sucking noise,' said Sherrie, an observation that raised a geyser of sniggers from the smutbuckets who surrounded her. In Loose Women world, no entendre is ever left undoubled." It also took a grudge against the quality of guests compared to the similar version of the show in the United States^[19]

On a podcast with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, An Idiot Abroad star Karl Pilkington said he did not want viewers of shows like Loose Women to watch his show. He went on to describe the programme as "flumpf telly" which "you don't have to think about".^[20]

On 23rd Feb 2012 the panel compared Breast feeding to a man flashing in public, something that caused outrage amongst public.

Merchandise

In late 2008, ITV released Let Loose: The Very Best Of Loose Women, a DVD featuring highlights of Series 12 and 13. The DVD is introduced by Jackie Brambles and Coleen Nolan, with Jane McDonald and Carol McGiffin giving an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the set at The London Studios.^[21] A second DVD was released in November 2009, entitled Late Night with the Loose Women. The extended programme features Andrea McLean, Sherrie Hewson, Carol McGiffin and Jane McDonald discussing raunchier topics than the television timeslot permits, and includes appearances by guests Will Mellor, Rustie Lee and Christopher Biggins.^[22] A 2010 DVD release saw Carol McGiffin, Sherrie Hewson, Lisa Maxwell and Denise Welch visit New York, titled Loose Women in New York: Let Loose in the City. The DVD was released on 8 November 2010.^[23]

A range of books have also been published under the brand which has expanded further with an online shop selling make-up products, champagne, personalised cups and stationery.^[24]

Awards

References

External links