The show first aired on September 6 1999 and has seen a variety of panellists appear on the show including Nadia Sawalha, Jane Moore, Ruth Langsford, Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan
Loose Women has marked its 25th anniversary with a new silver jubilee-inspired portrait featuring 18 of the show’s panellists for the first time.
The image sees the all-female line-up posing together while donning an array of silver sequin and satin gowns – but Stacey Solomon is nowhere to be seen as speculation about the mum-of-five’s future on the ITV show continues amid her career shake-up.
Four original panellists from the first week of shows in 1999 Jane Moore, Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and Ruth Langsford appear in the group photo. Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan, who have individually appeared in more than 1,000 episodes each, also feature alongside Linda Robson, Denise Welch and Brenda Edwards.
Newer additions to the panel also feature including Christine Lampard, Judi Love, Katie Piper, Kelle Bryan, Frankie Bridge, Dame Kelly Holmes, Charlene White, Sunetra Sarker and Olivia Attwood-Dack. Reflecting on the show’s long-running success, Langsford said: “I was on Loose Women from the very start and I have noticed a huge difference in how much more open people are about talking about difficult subjects. I believe that we have helped bring that about because we bring honesty to the show, we bring our own lives to the show.”
“We talk about very difficult, painful things in our lives, but we know that that reflects what people are going through themselves at home and now we talk about Alzheimer’s, suicide, divorce, all sorts of things that were a little bit taboo and I think it’s great that we do that.”
Stacey Solomon doesn’t feature in the special anniversary snap (
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Loose Women editor Sally Shelford said: “Over the last 25 years, Loose Women has tackled taboos and talked about issues not openly discussed on television, including domestic abuse, menopause, miscarriage and grief. Our incredible audience in the studio and at home have always been the fifth Loose Woman, and we promise to keep talking, sharing and shining a light on important subjects like these for our amazing viewers.”
Managing director of Daytime Studios at ITV Studio Emma Gormley added: “Loose Women is Britain’s longest running panel show and 25 years on, continues to lead the conversation on so many topics that reflect the lives of our viewers, from agenda-setting campaigns to lunchtime laughs with the women.”
“I’m immensely proud to work with a brilliantly talented team on and off screen and be able to celebrate the milestone anniversary with this wonderful silver jubilee themed shoot.
The show first aired on September 6 1999 with Adams, Sawalha, Moore and Apprentice star Baroness Karren Brady on the panel. Since the first one, there have been approximately 4,550 Loose Women episodes and specials, according to ITV. The show has also hosted nine all-male Loose Men panels which have drawn attention to men’s mental and physical health, with the first launching on International Men’s Day on November 19 2020.
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV1, ITVX and this September celebrates the show’s 25th anniversary.
