Carol McGiffin Claims She ‘Had To Step Away’ From Loose Women Due To Contract Dispute

Carol McGiffin in the Loose Women studio

Loose Women staple Carol McGiffin has revealed she’s “stepped away” from the show in recent times due to an ongoing contract dispute.

Carol first joined the ITV panel show in 2003, appearing for a decade before leaving in 2013, and eventually returning five years later.

However, in recent months, viewers have noticed that the long-serving panellist has not appeared on Loose Women for around two months.

Asked about her absence during a recent interview with Best magazine, Carol said she felt she “had to step away from” Loose Women due to the contactual issue.

Per the Daily Mail, she said: “It was causing me too much stress, which was mostly down to a difficult contract issue I’d been challenging since January.”

Carol on the panel with Charlene White, Judi Love and Nadia Sawalha in January 2023
Carol on the panel with Charlene White, Judi Love and Nadia Sawalha in January 2023

Although she did not go into detail about the issue itself, Carol continued: “The problem was, ITV were insisting, for the first time since I went back in 2018, that if I wanted to carry on doing the show, I would have to sign a contract that was totally unjust and unworkable for me, so I had to say ‘no thanks’.

“I feel quite upset about it, if I’m honest, because although it is my decision, I felt like it was one I was being forced to make. No one in their right mind would have signed that contract. And I can’t see a way back from it.”

An ITV spokesperson told Metro: “ITV will not comment on or disclose details of individual contracts but all ITV contracts comply with the required employment and HMRC legislation.”

HuffPost UK has contacted Loose Women for additional comment.

Carol’s most recent Loose Women appearance appears to have been in March of this year, where she shared the screen with fellow long-time panellists Kaye Adams, Brenda Edwards and Nadia Sawalha.

Earlier this year, she took part in the show’s body positivity campaign Body Stories: Celebrating Every Body alongside co-stars Gloria Hunniford, Sophie Morgan, Kelly Holmes, Katie Piper and Judi Love.