ITV daytime shows are set to get a huge shakeup next year as the teams merge behind the scenes and Lorraine and Loose Women get their time on air cut down

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Loose Women is set to see huge changes to how the show works(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Loose Women have faced yet another shakeup as stars of the hit ITV daytime show prepare for major changes. The daytime scheduling is set to look very different next year as huge cuts sweep the channel.

From next year, Loose Women will only air for 30 weeks rather than its usual 52, slashing production time almost in half. The beloved live studio audience will also be no more as well as its star-studded guests.

It is not the only hit show to be affected as Lorraine will instead run for half an hour and for 30 weeks a year. Loose Women, Lorraine and This Morning will move to a shared studio location in Covent Garden where the three shows will be produced by just one team, with 220 jobs set to go.

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Loose Women will run for 30 weeks a year instead(Image: ITV)

In another change for Loose Women, its long-time editor Sally Shelford has decided to hang up her reign. Amid her decision to leave, many of the show’s stars are said to be concerned about keeping their spots while the show gets trimmed down.

Sally’s departure is also said to be a hit to the cast as she “knows the women well” and “who will go on with who”. A source said: “The show is in bits. So many of the panellists need to work on the show to pay the bills so they are facing some tough times.”

They added to Daily Mail: “There are silos within the show – some despise one another, others are exceptionally close. These are desperate and worrying times.”

A spokesperson for ITV told the Mirror : “After almost a decade at the helm of Loose Women, winning three Royal Television Society Awards, two BAFTA nominations, launching powerful campaigns and expanding the Loose brand with Loose Men, a successful podcast and a live nationwide tour, Sally feels the time is right to hand the Loose baton on.

“She will continue as Loose Women Editor until the New Year.” Another huge change for the show will reportedly be the end of A-list guests, who are expected to appear on This Morning instead.

Over its 25 year history, Loose Women has welcomed some of the world’s biggest stars to the panel – from Naomi Campbell to Janet Jackson and Dame Joan Collins.

Speaking about the huge cuts, an insider told The Mirror: “It’s not a case of viewers seeing less of their shows… it’s impossible to see how the high standards will remain the same.

“Some staff believe Loose Women and Lorraine in particular will enter a death spiral… it’s just so sad. Just a handful of people will be working on each of those two programmes which has huge ramifications for how they are going forward.”

Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha admitted she was “totally devastated” at the loss of the audience and spoke out in support of her close friend and warm-up artist Lee Peart, who lost his job as a result.

“The audience is so important for the show,” Nadia said. “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. It’s brutal.”

She added: “Hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. 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.”