Loose Women has been removed from screens for the rest of the week with one of the hosts making a desperate plea to viewers.
Loose Women will not air for the rest of the week(Image: ITV)
Loose Women has been taken off air for the rest of the week in yet another scheduling shake up for the broadcaster. The ITV chat show features a host of stars including Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan and Olivia Attwood discussing the hot topics of the day, and it normally airs on weekdays at lunchtimes.
However, on Tuesday’s episode of Loose Women, host Christine Lampard welcomed a new presenter onto the set alongside her co-stars Denise Welch, Janet Street-Porter and Jane Moore, while JoJo Siwa later appeared to open up about her relationship with Chris Hughes. Meanwhile, Lee Peart, who is a stand up comedian that has acted as the warm up act for the show’s live studio audience for a number of years, was brought out on live television to present the competitions segment for that day.
The role is normally covered by the likes of This Morning’s Josie Gibson or Big Brother winner Kate Lawler among others and often is reported on live from various abroad locations. When Lee made his debut on the programme to let viewers know how they could be in with a chance of winning £60k, he dropped the bombshell that the Loose Women ladies will not be on screens over the coming days.
Christine later confirmed his announcement which is due to the racing, the Mirror reports.
Comedian Lee Peart begged viewers to get involved (Image: ITV)
He said: “Lines close on Friday and I will say, this is actually the last Loose Women of the week, so get your entry in if you want to do that!”
It comes amid a series of extensive budget cuts for ITV, which will see both Loose Women and the Lorraine show being cut down to 30 weeks a year.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale will also be slashing their cast members in an attempt to cut costs.
During the weeks that Lorraine Kelly is not on air, Good Morning Britain will run in her place from 6am to 10am.
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Meanwhile, This Morning will remain in its 10am to 12:30pm slot on weekdays throughout the year and Loose Women will be in the 12.30-1.30pm slot for a seasonal basis of 30 weeks too.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, explained of the huge changes: “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 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.
“I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off screen in our Daytime production teams.”
He continued: “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.
“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.”