Carol McGiffin has called for Loose Women to end, claiming the ITV programme has become a “sad shadow of its former self”.
Writing in her Best magazine column, she described the current show as “boring, strained, unfriendly”.
Her verdict follows production cutbacks at Loose Women. The changes included a smaller studio and the removal of the live audience.
Carol, 66, also criticised what she viewed as an excessive focus on the panellists’ personal concerns. She claimed the programme now featured “too many rich, whinging women going on about the menopause or their terrible lives”.
The broadcaster appeared on Loose Women during two separate periods. Her first stint ran from 2000 until 2013. She returned in 2018 before leaving again in 2023 following a contract dispute.
Why did Carol McGiffin leave Loose Women?
Carol previously claimed that ITV wanted her to accept contract terms she considered “totally unjust and unworkable for me”.
She said she had no choice but to turn down the proposed agreement. In a separate Best column at the time, Carol also explained how the negotiations had affected her.
She wrote: “And I know it looks like I’ve thrown my toys out of the pram, but the whole saga was affecting my health.”
Three years after leaving the panel, Carol has now delivered a blunt verdict on the programme’s direction. Her long history with Loose Women formed a central part of her criticism as she compared today’s format with the show she once enjoyed.
Carol McGiffin says Loose Women is in its ‘final throes’
Carol argued that Loose Women previously offered more comedy, bold conversations and cheeky subjects.
She said: “Loose Women used to be a show full of humour, with strong sassy women, innuendo and risqué topics.”
The former panellist said it had once been enjoyable both to make and to watch. However, she claimed the atmosphere and energy had since changed.
Carol framed the programme’s decline in stark terms. She compared it with the pain of watching something she loved gradually disappear and said the process had been happening for some time.
She wrote: “There’s nothing worse than having to watch someone you love die a slow, painful death but it’s also painful to watch when something you loved dies a slow death.
“And so it is, in my opinion, with Loose Women. It’s been happening for a while but now it seems to be in its final throes. Time to let it go.”
ED! has contacted ITV for comment.
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