Singer Anastacia and businesswoman Emma Grede have been offered two-month contracts on Loose Women as ITV bosses scramble to revive the daytime talk show following a series of high-profile departures.
The proposed short-term roles come after long-serving panellists Denise Welch and Nadia Sawalha became the latest stars to step down from the panel, prompting network executives to spend the summer devising a new plan to refresh the series.
Production bosses are reportedly seeking to revitalise the scandal-hit chat show by introducing new panellists to the desk. An insider described the turbulent atmosphere surrounding the broadcast over the past year.
"If we are honest, Loose Women has become a bit of a train wreck. The past 12 months have seen scandal after scandal," the insider stated, adding that ongoing cost-cutting measures across daytime broadcasting have compounded problems behind the scenes. "Mix that with the cuts and it’s been a perfect storm. ITV have offered both Emma and Anastacia contracts that will see them appear on the show as panellists."
Recruiting New Panellists
Both women have previously featured on Loose Women as studio guests, giving them first-hand experience with the program's live discussion format. Executive team members hope their return in formal roles will attract broader viewing figures.
"Both have been on as guests so they know the set up. Emma was a huge hit on Dragons’ Den and it’s hoped she would bring in a younger demographic to the show," the source added to The Sun.
Grede, 43, is a British entrepreneur who co-founded Khloe Kardashian's denim company Good American and Kim Kardashian's SKIMS shapewear brand. Alongside her television appearance as a guest investor on the BBC series Dragons' Den, she hosts the Aspire podcast.
Anastacia, 57, is an American pop singer who has sold 50 million records worldwide over her career. Representatives for ITV, Anastacia, and Grede have been approached by the Daily Mail for comment on the contract offers.
Daytime Schedule Budget Cuts
The reported talent search comes alongside sweeping financial reductions across ITV daytime programming. The broadcaster announced dramatic budget cuts to its daytime schedule in May, significantly altering several flagship shows.
Under the restructuring plan, morning program Lorraine was halved to 30 minutes and scheduled to air strictly during school term times. Meanwhile, annual production output for Loose Women was reduced to 30 weeks a year.
As part of the cost-cutting decisions, network executives also eliminated the live studio audience for Loose Women. The move directly resulted in warm-up artist Lee Peart losing his job on the production team.
Panellist Nadia Sawalha expressed deep sadness over the removal of the studio audience and the departure of her colleague. "I am totally devastated by this fact, I can't get over it at all," Sawalha said. "Not only because the audience is so important for the show, but also my dear friend Lee who I work with every day."
Staff Redundancies and Presenter Reaction
Sawalha voiced strong feelings regarding the severity of the May announcements, describing the financial cuts to Loose Women as brutal for staff working behind the scenes.
"This show has been highly successful for 25 years, more actually now, it is such a clear brand..." Sawalha explained, highlighting the uncertain employment status faced by television personalities and crew members alike.
"The brutality of the world... what a lot of people don't realise is that we're self-employed, every contract is a new contract, I could be let go tomorrow or in five years, we're not employees," she noted.
Sawalha added that seeing production staff face sudden unemployment was distressing for the entire team. "What's been absolutely brutal over the last week and honestly, I feel tearful about it is that hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue, these are people behind the scenes, that support us in every way."
Reflecting on broader economic pressures, Sawalha remarked: "It's the way of the world, inflation is insane, cuts have to be made... a lot of my friends and colleagues on this show and at ITV have been there for decades, and I can't tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they were going to do."
Former Co-Stars Criticise Show Direction
Following Denise Welch's exit, former Loose Women panellists have spoken out about changes to the daytime talk show's format and editorial tone. Sherrie Hewson and former co-star Carol McGiffin have both taken swipes at the ITV show.
Hewson, 75, who left the series in 2016 after 14 years on the panel, stated that she believes women no longer enjoy the freedom of expression that previously defined the broadcast.
"Times have changed, but we were very free and we could talk about anything. We could say anything," Hewson observed. "We could discuss what we wanted, but now you can't. It's a very different time. You have to be controlled; you can't say this, you can't say that. It was just very free."
Reflecting on the early years of the broadcast, Hewson concluded: "It was just women talking, but we didn't think anybody was watching, and I don't think they were."
