Loose Women star Jane Moore has spoken out about the "snooty reaction" from some pundits to ITV's decision to cut the daytime show back to 30 weeks of the year.
In a column for The Sun, the journalist described the comments as "immensely disappointing", calling out one male commentator for dismissing Loose Women as a "gabfest".
"When it was announced that one of the precious few, all-female shows was being cut back to 30 weeks a year to save money for, among other things, more sport, the snooty reaction from some quarters was immensely disappointing," she wrote.
"One male commentator for a broadsheet casually dismissed Loose Women — on air for 25 years — as a 'gabfest'."
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockSharing examples of when Loose Women presenters have engaged in debates with key political figures, Jane continued: "Clearly he hadn't seen the episode when Janet Street Porter turned to then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and demanded: 'Why do you hate pensioners?'... Or when a squirming Nigel Farage was put on the spot and declared afterwards 'that was one of the scariest things I've ever done'."
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockJane also pointed out that the BAFTA-nominated show won a Royal Television Society award earlier this year for its Facing It Together campaign against domestic violence.
ITV's cutbacks explained
Earlier this month, it was announced that more than 220 jobs across ITV's daytime output are expected to be cut.
From January 2026, Lorraine will be cut from an hour to 30 minutes and will only air for 30 weeks of the year out of 52.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockMeanwhile, Good Morning Britain (GMB) will be extended by half an hour to fill the gap, running from 6am to 9am daily. During the weeks that Lorraine isn't on air, GMB will be extended by 30 minutes and run until 10am.
Loose Women will remain in its current time slot, from 12.30 pm to 1.30pm, during weekdays, but will be cut to 30 weeks of the year.
This Morning, hosted by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, is to remain in its 10am to 12.30pm slot on weekdays across the year.
© Ray Burmiston/ITVKevin Lygo, managing director of ITV's media and entertainment division, said in a statement: "Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust, as well as generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.
"These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output and to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever."
