Carol McGiffin Demands Loose Women Axe in Savage Attack: “Boring, Strained, and Unfriendly”
Former Loose Women panellist Carol McGiffin has launched a blistering attack on the hit ITV daytime show, branding it a “sad shadow of its former self” and sensationally calling for it to be axed.
The 66-year-old presenter, who was a fiery and familiar face on the panel for over a decade, didn’t hold back in her latest magazine column, delivering a scathing verdict on the programme she once considered a “joy.”
McGiffin, known for her outspoken and often controversial opinions, originally joined the Loose Women lineup in 2000. She quickly established herself as a core member of the team, regularly appearing alongside fellow mainstays like Denise Welch, Kaye Adams, and Coleen Nolan. Her first stint on the show lasted until 2013 when she decided to walk away. She later returned in 2018, only to leave permanently in 2023 following a bitter contract dispute.
Now, three years after her final exit, McGiffin has made it abundantly clear that she no longer watches the show with any fondness. In a newly published column for Best magazine (as reported by The Sun), the television personality offered a brutal assessment of the current state of Loose Women, comparing its decline to a “slow, painful death.”
“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,” McGiffin reportedly wrote, setting a somber and critical tone right from the start.
She went on to contrast the current format with the show she remembers from her heyday, suggesting that the very essence of what made Loose Women successful has been entirely lost. “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,” she stated.
According to McGiffin, the magic of the early years was rooted in its fearless approach to broadcasting. “Loose Women used to be a show full of humour, with strong sassy women, innuendo and risqué topics. It was a joy to do and an even bigger joy to watch,” she reminisced, highlighting the elements that initially drew viewers in.
However, her view of the modern iteration is starkly different and deeply uncomplimentary. She didn’t mince her words as she tore into the current panel and the topics they discuss. “Watching now it’s a sad shadow of its former self, boring, strained, unfriendly and with too many rich, whinging women going on about the menopause or their terrible lives,” she fumed.
The attack culminated in a devastating final plea, with the former Celebrity Big Brother star reportedly ending her column by simply stating: “Time to let it go.”
This latest outburst is not entirely out of the blue. McGiffin’s relationship with the show and its producers has seemingly been strained since her departure in 2023. At the time, she revealed that her exit was not entirely her choice, but rather the result of a “difficult contract issue” with ITV bosses.
Speaking to Best magazine about her departure, she explained her frustration: “The problem was, ITV were insisting, for the first time since I went back in 2018, that if I wanted to carry on doing the show, I would have to sign a contract that was totally unjust and unworkable for me, so I had to say ‘no thanks.’”
The decision clearly left a bitter taste. “I feel quite upset about it, if I’m honest, because although it is my decision, I felt like it was one I was being forced to make. No one in their right mind would have signed that contract. And I can’t see a way back from it,” she confessed, indicating that any bridge back to the daytime show was firmly burned.
Furthermore, McGiffin has previously expressed her belief that the television landscape, and Loose Women in particular, has changed for the worse, becoming “too woke” and overly cautious. During an interview on TNT talk radio, she reflected on her early career with a sense of nostalgia for a less restricted era.
“I always look back at when I started working in television and radio as the good old days because they were much less policed, I suppose. Much less restricted and it was a freer place to be,” she observed.
Drawing a direct comparison between her original run on Loose Women and the current climate, she added: “When I look back at the old Loose Womens I used to do from 2000 all the way until I left in 2013, they’re completely different. There is so much offence. People take so much offence at so much and they never used to.”
McGiffin’s harsh critique comes closely on the heels of another high-profile departure from the show. Fellow long-time panellist Denise Welch recently announced she was stepping away, prompting another former star, Sherrie Hewson, to comment that the show has “completely changed.”
Whether McGiffin’s savage assessment will prompt any response from ITV bosses or the current Loose Women panellists remains to be seen. However, her explosive comments have certainly ignited a fresh debate among viewers about the evolution of daytime television and whether the once-beloved show has indeed lost its original spark. The Mirror has reportedly contacted Loose Women for a comment regarding McGiffin’s claims.
