The presenter and former EastEnders star, 61, alleged that she was temporarily axed from the daytime show in July 2026 and accused ITV of \u201cforever changing the goalposts\u201d in relation to her return.<\/p>\n
She claimed the channel\u2019s decision arose from \u201cescalating campaign of smears, complaints, hostile media coverage and targeted calls to have me removed\u201d from the series.<\/p>\n
![\"Nadia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/newFile.jpg\")
Nadia Sawalha said she was removed from the programme in July 2026 (ITV)<\/p>\n
In a video shared on Instagram<\/a>, Sawalha said: \u201cI want to say how sad I am that it\u2019s got to this. Believe me, I have appealed to ITV\u2019s hearts and minds, but to no avail.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter I began speaking publicly in support of Palestine in December 2023, I became the target of an escalating campaign of smears, complaints, hostile media coverage and targeted calls to have me removed from Loose Women.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that, after her initial removal, ITV \u201ccouldn\u2019t guarantee they wouldn\u2019t take me off again, as it would depend on what was said, even though I\u2019m hired for being an opinionated woman on a discussion show and I\u2019ve never brought up or spoken about Palestine directly on the show\u201d.<\/p>\n She called it \u201cthe tip of the iceberg of what\u2019s been happening\u201d.<\/p>\n Alongside the lawsuit<\/a>, Sawalha has launched a petition demanding a public apology from ITV and her reinstatement. The petition has already garnered more than 20,000 signatures.<\/p>\n She said the petition was to show there are \u201cmany more people with us than against us\u201d, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s not just me that has been targeted like this from my beliefs. There are the teachers, doctors, nurses, charity and supermarket workers, and students who have also spoken according to their conscience and have suffered a similar fate as me. Enough is enough.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to send a clear message to ITV and other groups and corporations that we won\u2019t be scared into silence, and no-one should be bullied out of their job for following their conscience and speaking out against brutal oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n Swalha has been supported by another of the show\u2019s panellists, former athlete Dame Kelly Holmes, who said she had \u201cno idea\u201d what had been happening.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just not right or just,\u201d she wrote in response. \u201cI am so sorry, Nadia, no one can even begin to comprehend the \u2018fight\u2019 you must have been having behind the scenes. Thanks for sharing this. I had no idea. With you.\u201d<\/p>\n The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.<\/p>\n Sawalha joined the ITV show in 1999 as one of the original panellists alongside Kaye Adams, Jane Moore and Karren Brady. She took a maternity break in 2002 and returned to the programme in 2013.<\/p>\n In 2025, she criticised <\/a>ITV\u2019s \u201cout of the blue\u201d budget cuts, after the channel announced that Loose Women, alongside other popular daytime talk show Lorraine<\/a>, would be slashed from one hour to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n Speaking alongside her husband Mark Adderly on the couple\u2019s YouTube<\/a> channel, she said many people behind the scenes were \u201creally suffering\u201d.<\/p>\n Struggling to contain her tears, Sawalha said: \u201cTo all my friends and colleagues behind the scenes who have just got a huge shock out of the blue, I’m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Nadia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nadia-sawalha.jpg\")
Nadia Sawalha said she was removed from the programme in July 2026 (Channel 5)<\/p>\n