Nadia Sawalha shares Loose Women update as ITV show returns without her
The petition for Nadia to return has surpassed 90,000 signaturesNadia Sawalha has given Loose Women viewers an update after announcing she was taking legal action against ITV.
The TV presenter, 61, spoke out as the lunchtime panel show returned after seven weeks off air due to a summer break.
Nadia confirmed that she would not be back on Loose Women and also gave an update on a petition calling for her comeback.
More than 90,000 people have signed it, demanding for Nadia to be reinstated on the show.
Nadia Sawalha gives Loose Women update
Nadia filmed a YouTube video to coincide with the return of Loose Women to ITV. The ladies have been off air since mid-July and have returned as part of ITV’s autumn schedule.
She titled her video ‘NADIA UNFILTERED: Loose Women is Back and I Have Very MIXED EMOTIONS’. It was uploaded last night (Sunday September 6, 2026), hours before Loose Women was back on air.
Sitting in a black vest top at home, she said: “There is only one thing I can talk about today and that is the fact that Loose Women is back on air tomorrow.
“It is the first time that I know I won’t be on one single show. It’s weird. I’ve had so many messages asking how I’m feeling and it’s quite a complicated question to answer.”
She continued: “First and foremost, that means tomorrow the petition will be going in, which is incredible. Whether we will hear anything from ITV or not, I don’t know, because we still haven’t heard anything from them. I don’t know when I will or if I will.
“But the fact that 92,000 people took the time to sign it has really overwhelmed me and my family and friends and the community. Everyone is so moved and inspired by it.”
Why isn’t Nadia Sawalha on Loose Women?
Nadia confirmed last month that she was taking legal action against ITV. She claims she has been “treated unlawfully” because of her “protective beliefs”.
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.
The former EastEnders actress is one of the original Loose Women, having joined the panel during its 1999 launch. But for the first half of this year, fans spotted her missing during repeated periods of absence.
In her own words at the beginning of August, Nadia said she had been “taken on and off” Loose Women a number of times. She stressed that she had not discussed her beliefs towards Palestine on the programme itself.
The mum-of-two alleged she had been told by show bosses: “It’s all a bit noisy out there for us.”
The petition calling for her Loose Women return states: “Instead of standing by Nadia, ITV has continued to keep her off Loose Women, with no indication of when, or if, she will return.
“Nadia has spent more than two decades doing exactly what Loose Women celebrates: speaking openly, honestly and fearlessly. No one should be punished or treated unfairly at work for expressing sincerely held beliefs or speaking out against injustice.”
TVGuide has contacted ITV for comment.
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