Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha takes legal action against ITV as she launches petition to reinstate her on show
Nadia alleges she has been 'treated unlawfully'Nadia Sawalha has announced plans to take legal action against ITV, alleging that she has been “treated unlawfully” because of her “protected beliefs”.
The Loose Women panellist, 61, shared the news in a three-minute Instagram video on Thursday morning.
She said her legal team had written to the broadcaster following her recent periods of absence from the lunchtime show.
Nadia has not been seen on the Loose Women panel for several months.
Nadia Sawalha announces legal action against ITV
In her Instagram video, Nadia said: “My legal team at ELSC have today written to ITV alleging that I have been treated unlawfully due to my protected beliefs.”
She said she is “sad” matters had reached this point, claiming that her attempts to appeal to ITV had been unsuccessful: “I have appealed to ITV’s hearts and minds but to no avail,” Nadia said.
Nadia alleged that her difficulties began after she publicly expressed support for Palestine in December 2023.
She claimed she had since become the target of an “escalating campaign” of “smears, complaints and hostile media coverage”. Nadia also said she was victim of “targeted calls” to have her removed from Loose Women.
Nadia said she had been “taken on and off” Loose Women a number of times. She stressed that she had not discussed Palestine on the programme itself.
But Nadia alleges she has been told by show bosses: “It’s all a bit noisy out there for us.”
Nadia further alleged that a 20-page open letter from a group of “prominent pro-Israel media figures” had been sent to ITV. According to her account, the letter argued against her being reinstated on the show.
She said she had not seen the letter or the accusations it allegedly contained.
Nadia claimed her statement represented only “the tip of the iceberg of what’s been happening”. But she added: “This is Instagram and I only have three minutes.”
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Nadia Sawalha launches petition for her Loose Women return
Alongside the planned legal action, Nadia announced she had launched a petition calling for her reinstatement on Loose Women.
She explained: “Two years ago, a petition to get me removed from Loose Women was set up, but now I want to show there are many more people with us than against us.”
Nadia said she would “love” for fans to sign it.
With her voice breaking, the former EastEnders actress claimed that workers from other industries had also “suffered a similar fate” for speaking their minds.
Nadia ended her video, saying: “Enough is enough. We need to send a message to ITV and other groups and operations that we won’t be scared into silence.”
TVGuide has contacted ITV for comment.
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