Fans of ITV’s Loose Women found that the panel had been taken over by men for a special spin-off of the show – with guest panelist Jordan Banjo opening up about a secret health battle

Loose Men returned for another special episode on Wednesday in which Jordan Banjo candidly shared his battle with booze.

Since 2020, ITV’s Loose Women had relinquished the panel to welcome a group of lads to take over the hot topics of the day and share their personal stories for a special episode. While the one-off special was originally aired to coincide with International Men’s Day, the all-male line-up has resurfaced sporadically with a wide range of male guest hosts and panelists.

On Wednesday, 32-year-old dancer and choreographer Jordan, joined the Loose Men desk alongside TV host Craig Doyle, pop singer Danny Jones and former TOWIE star Pete Wicks. The boys covered a range of topics and at one point discussed whether or not they had ever been told they drink too much.

During this segment of the show, Jordan candidly revealed he had endured a secret battle with alcohol – admitting he hid his drinking from his wife. He explained that he turned to drink during the pandemic – and was shocked by how easily it took hold of his life. The TV judge said: “When we went into lockdown, I started drinking and it became a daily thing. Once it becomes a habit, it’s a hard thing to break.

He joined the panel alongside Craig Doyle, Danny Jones and Pete Wicks ( 
Image:
Loose Men)

“This going to sound so stupid. I was 28 in lockdown. This is going to sound dumb, but it was like I was 16 or 17. It was like, ‘Hang on a minute. I can just drink this and feel drunk and a bit merry!’,” he said. “It became constant, constant, constant until it go to the point where in November 2023, I had to cut drinking cold.” The Diversity went on to explain how he stopped his wife, influencer Naomi Courts, from finding out how much alcohol he was consuming.

He revealed: “It got to the point where I was having dinner with my wife and I’d take my plate out to the kitchen and and I was secretly topping up, hoping I didn’t get caught. I’m up early for radio and I’d say to my wife, ‘I’ll stay in the spare room so I don’t wake you up’. And I’m in there having drinks.”

He painted a picture of himself reaching for a drink at almost every hour of the day. He recalled: “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ I’d get my iPad out and just be sat in bed drinking at half eight at night on my own.” Jordan went on to explain that he noticed his relationship with booze was beginning to impact his family life – but it wasn’t until he had to prepare for an ITV show that he really realised he had developed a problem. He said: “I noticed a difference in my relationship and parenting as I was just vacant.”

He continued: “I speak about it openly now, but a couple of my friends were quite upset. Me and Pete filmed The Real Full Monty together and it affected everything. I walked in about five stone heavier than I am now and was trying to dance and rehearse. Pete was better than me. I was in rough shape and on that filming day was popping out and having a drink.”