Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha brands ITV cuts 'brutal'

Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha has said ITV's cuts to its daytime schedule came "out of the blue" and have been "absolutely brutal" for those working on the show.

ITV announced last week it was axing more than 220 jobs and making cuts to shows including Loose Women and Lorraine.

Speaking on her YouTube channel, Sawalha said: "What's been brutal, absolutely brutal, over the last week, honestly I feel tearful about it, is that hundreds of people... are going to be made redundant out of the blue, these are all the people behind the scenes that support us in every way."

There have been reports that the pool of panellists will be reduced, and Sawalha said she "could be let go tomorrow, [or] I could be let go in five years".

In an announcement last week, ITV boss Kevin Lygo stressed that daytime is "a really important part" of its programming, and said he recognised that the plans "will have an impact on staff".

In her video, Sawalha, who has also appeared in EastEnders, Dancing on Ice and The Bill, said Loose Women and Lorraine had been "highly successful", but that she accepted inflation was "insane, and cuts have to be made", before becoming emotional.

"Behind the scenes there are people that are really suffering, and what you don't realise is when you attack the show you attack them, because you never see all the army of people behind the scenes and how hard they work," she said.

"So to all my friends and colleagues behind the scenes that have just got a huge shock out of the blue, I'm so sorry."

She added that she thought some conversations about the cuts had been "misogynistic", stressing the impact of the cuts on many of her friends and colleagues on the show, who have worked there for decades.

"I can't tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they are going to do... [when] television is coming very slowly to its natural end."

Speaking from her own perspective, she added: "What people don't realise at Loose Women is that we're self-employed. I am self-employed. Every contract is a new contract.

"I could be let go tomorrow, I could be let go in five years, you don't know because we're not employees."

Under the changes, Loose Women will be broadcast for 30 instead of 52 weeks. Lorraine Kelly's morning show will also be cut to 30 weeks, and will reduce from an hour to 30 minutes.

While ITV did not comment on Sawalha's views, they referred to Lygo's comments about the cuts in last week's announcement.

"I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off-screen in our Daytime production teams, and we will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition," ITV's managing director of media and entertainment said.

"Daytime has been a core element of ITV's schedule for over 40 years and these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade."

During weeks when Lorraine is not on air, Good Morning Britain will extend by half an hour, from 06:00 BST to 10:00 BST. This Morning will stay in its slot on weekdays across the year.

In February, ITV announced that soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale would see their content cut by an hour a week between them from next year.

Earlier this month, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said the company was making "good progress" on a cost-cutting drive, and that she expected to make £30m non-content savings during 2025.

In the past few years, there has been a downturn in advertising revenue, part of a funding squeeze throughout the TV industry.