Loose Women's Carol McGiffin reveals why she no longer wants to be on TV as she lifts lid on ITV bosses' demands
She left the show in 2023Carol McGiffin claims Loose Women bosses repeatedly reprimanded her and asked her to delete social media posts.
The former panellist, 66, made the allegations on Best UK’s Suddenly Single podcast.
She argued that decision-makers were following rules imposed from above, leaving little room for differing viewpoints.
“You want to hire people with opinions, let them have opinions. It’s impossible now,” she said.
Loose Women star Carol McGiffin ‘was told to remove things from social media’
Carol claimed her posts upset people in authority, but did not identify those involved.
“I was told off so many times. I was told to remove things from social media that I’d expressed an opinion on because it upsets the powers that be,” she said.
“Whether those powers that be are the people at the top of the TV tree or they’re somewhere else, and I suspect they’re somewhere else, they don’t like it. They don’t like people having those other opinions. So you get basically sanitised.”
Her criticism comes alongside major changes to ITV’s daytime schedule and departures from the Loose Women panel.
Carol left the programme in 2023 after a dispute over her contract. Writing in Best magazine that year, she said she had challenged a contract issue since January.
She claimed ITV’s proposed terms were unfair and impractical, leaving her unable to agree to continue. According to Carol, the dispute had become stressful and was affecting her health.
Discussing her future on Suddenly Single, she said: “I don’t want to be on TV anymore.”
However, Carol drew a distinction between her own departure and Denise Welch’s exit.
Denise stepped down after nearly 25 years on the show. Original host Nadia Sawalha has also reportedly been dropped from the panel.
Carol said she did not believe Denise had fallen out with bosses, unlike herself. She praised Denise’s acting work and suggested that was behind her decision to leave.
Loose Women and Lorraine affected by ITV cuts
ITV announced its daytime overhaul in May 2025, with more than 220 job losses reported.
Loose Women lost its studio audience and moved to a reduced annual run.
Lorraine’s changes included a 30-minute reduction in running time and a schedule covering 30 weeks each year.
Under the revised arrangements, Lorraine Kelly presents five days a week during those weeks.
Good Morning Britain takes over the 9am to 10am slot for the remaining 22 weeks.
ITV also announced that ITN would take over Good Morning Britain’s production from ITV Studios.
For Carol, those reductions fed into her wider criticism of mainstream television.
“Everything is so standard. Everyone’s got to have the same opinion. And it is boring. And that’s why it’s dying,” she said.
Read more: Loose Women’s Ruth Langsford gets teary live on air as she discusses dog Maggie’s death
This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.
