Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha has broken her silence on her future with the ITV show after weeks of unexplained absence. The 61-year-old has not appeared on the panel since April, sparking speculation about her role.
Cryptic Comment on Show Future
In a fresh update with Bella Magazine, Sawalha addressed her return, stating: "Let me just say this, we'll have an answer on that very soon!" The comment follows reports that she had been suspended, which ITV denied.
Sawalha, who has been a staple of the show for around 16 years on-screen, first joined in 1999 and stayed until 2002, before returning in 2013. Her absence has led to widespread fan concern.
YouTube and Podcast Ventures
During her time away from the panel, Sawalha and her husband Mark Adderley have remained active with fans through their YouTube channel, which boasts 157,000 subscribers. They also launched a show called Mrs and Mister: Lunchtime Laugh and a podcast titled Coffee Moaning.
Discussing their lunchtime show, Sawalha said: "I'm in the driving seat. I'm in charge and this is the way it's always going to be." She added: "We've been talking for a long while about doing this. This is lifestyle stuff, silly stuff. And there will be one serious topic [a day]."
Addressing Suspension Rumours
Sawalha previously took to Instagram to deny claims she had been dropped from the Loose Women line-up. She said: "Thank you all so much for all your lovely messages but listen, don't worry guys, there's loads of lies going around at the moment. One of which is that I have been suspended from Loose Women. I have not been suspended from Loose Women."
ITV Shake-Up Concerns
Last year, Sawalha admitted she was "worried" about changes made to Loose Women as part of an ITV shake-up. Since January, episodes have been reduced to 30 weeks a year, and the show no longer has a live audience. Addressing the change, she revealed that some of her colleagues away from the cameras had been made redundant.
"We're all going to miss the audience terribly, but how it will affect the dynamic of the show, who knows?" she shared. "The audience has always been the fifth Loose Women, it's going to be very strange, it's sad, but it's the sign of the times."
She added to Woman's Weekly Magazine: "I'm just really upset about my friends and colleagues - the crew - that were made redundant. I am worried, because we're all worried all the time in this world that we live in. Everything is so precarious."
As part of the ITV scheduling change, Good Morning Britain was extended by 30 minutes, running from 6am to 9:30am each weekday. This meant its follow-up show Lorraine was cut back from one hour to 30 minutes, and it only airs 30 weeks of the year.
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV and ITVX.
