Are key stars about to quit?
It will have been going for 25 years this year, but despite its enduring popularity and success, it seems some of Loose Women’s current biggest names could be considering walking away from the show.
Last year saw Carol McGiffin leave after 20 years on the panel, later claiming she’d been asked to sign a ‘totally unjust and unworkable’ contract.
And now it’s been reported that regular panellists Jane Moore and Janet Street Porter are also caught up in contract rows.
This, coupled with the fact that stars are regularly taking extended breaks from the show, and Coleen Nolan admitting that welcoming new panellists can be ‘hard’, could we be about to witness a mass exodus?
Janet and Jane are said to have ‘gone on strike’ earlier this year, following a dispute over their contracts. ITV reportedly tried to get them to sign contracts saying they were permanent ITV employees rather than freelance journalists. The fall-out is in the wake of ITV’s new PAYE-only contracts policy, which is in response to HMRC’s ‘off-payroll’ working rules, after tax authorities said that TV presenters should not be able to use a ‘corporate veil’ to claim not to be staff. Following the disagreement, Jane hasn’t been on the panel since December, while Janet only returned last month after several weeks off.
Potential changes
A source revealed, ‘Jane and Janet are furious. They have done such a lot for that show and they love it – but... they do different work across different companies and, as journalists, value their independent status. Things have got pretty tense. If it carries on, there might be a big change to the line-up.’
Their co-star Linda Robson has branded the claims ‘a load of rubbish’, however, adding, ‘Janet has been away so she’s had a couple of weeks away, and Jane has had all her own stuff with her column and other bits, and she’s off walking somewhere.’ And a spokesperson for ITV said, ‘We don’t comment on individual cases but ITV ensures that it complies with and follows all HMRC guidance and legislation.’
Outside interests
The stars of Loose Women appear to be increasingly choosing to focus on other projects, which naturally pull them away from the weekday filming commitments of the show. One of its most popular panellists, Stacey Solomon, is still on maternity leave after welcoming her daughter, Belle, last year. However, while Stacey’s BBC s
