The familiar faces of ITV's Loose Women were overcome with emotion during Wednesday's episode as they marked the departure of a beloved behind-the-scenes figure after more than a decade.
An Emotional Farewell On Air
During the broadcast on December 17, presenter Kaye Adams addressed the studio audience and viewers at home with a heavy heart. The 62-year-old revealed it was the final day for producer Eleanor Cotter, known affectionately as 'El', who had been with the popular talk show for 11 years. "We might have a little cry today because our cherished producer, El, it's her last day after 11 years," Adams said. "So, we're gonna say we love you, El."
Panellist Nadia Sawalha, 61, echoed the sentiment, simply stating, "It's so sad," which prompted a warm round of applause from the studio audience for the departing producer.
Broader Changes Hit ITV Daytime
This poignant exit is not an isolated event but part of wider restructuring across ITV's daytime programming. Significant schedule alterations announced earlier in the year are now taking effect:
- Lorraine will move to a 30-week schedule, with episodes shortened to just half an hour, airing from 9:30 am to 10 am.
- Loose Women will keep its usual 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm slot, but its episode count will also be reduced to a 30-week 'seasonal' schedule.
A source described the atmosphere following May's announcement as tense, with "everyone feeling on edge." They confirmed to The Sun that while job cuts are happening through merging production teams, the on-screen talent for Loose Women is expected to remain broadly unchanged. "There is no intention for the cast to lose any faces," the source stated.
Warm-Up Act Also Waves Goodbye
The changes extend beyond producers to other long-standing members of the show's family. Comedian and presenter Lee Peart, who has been the show's warm-up act since 2017, has also announced his departure.
Taking to Facebook, Peart, 35, shared that he had just two weeks of studio audiences left and posted a photo with panellists Ruth Langsford, Gloria Hunniford, and Kellé Bryan. "Two weeks today will be my final Loose Women! A bittersweet end of an era…" he wrote, noting it was the last time he would work with those panellists in that capacity.
His exit is directly linked to the schedule overhaul, as Nadia Sawalha explained on her podcast, Coffee Moaning: "From next year there will be no Loose Women audience. I am totally devastated by this fact… Not only because the audience is so important for the show, but also my dear friend Lee who I work with every day."
Fans flooded Peart's post with supportive messages, with many expressing they were "gutted" to see him leave the show.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1 at 12:30 pm and is available to stream on ITVX.
