Loose Women pulled off air as host begs viewers to get involved in show amid budget cuts

Loose Women has been pulled off-air for the rest of the week in yet another shakeup for the broadcaster. The ITV chat show normally airs weekday lunchtimes, and stars such as Ruth Langsford, Coleen Nolan, and Olivia Attwood amongst a host of others discuss the topics of the day.

But on Tuesday's episode, anchor Christine Lampard welcomed a new presenter onto the set alongside her co-stars Denise Welch, Janet Street-Porter and Jane Moore, while JoJo Siwa later appeared to discuss her relationship with Chris Hughes. Lee Peart is a stand-up comedian who has acted as the warmup act for the show'slive studio audience for a number of years but he was brought out on live television to present the competitions segment for that day.

The role is normally covered by the likes of This Morning's Josie Gibson, Big Brother winner Kate Lawler or X Factor star Jake Quickenden amongst a host of others, and sometimes comes in live from a various locations abroad.

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But as Lee made his debut on the programme to let viewers know how they could be in with a chance of winning £60,000, he dropped the bombshell that the lunchtime ladies will not be on air over the coming days, which Christine later clarified was thanks to the racing.

He said: "Lines close on Friday and I will say, this is actually the last Loose Women of the week, so get your entry in if you want to do that!" It comes amid a plethora of budget cuts for ITV, which will see both Loose Women and Lorraine Kelly's eponymous programme cut to 30 weeks of the year.

Earlier this year, it was also reported that ITV's soapsCoronation Street and Emmerdale will also be slashing cast members to save on the budget. During the weeks Lorraine is not on air, Good Morning Britain will run from 6am to 10am. This Morning will remain in its 10am-12.30pm slot on weekdays throughout the year, while Loose Women will be in the 12.30-1.30pm slot for a seasonal basis of 30 weeks too.

Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, explained of the huge changes: "Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust as well generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.

"These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output and to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever.

"I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off screen in our Daytime production teams."

He added: "We will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition.

"Daytime has been a core element of ITV’s schedule for over 40 years and these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade."

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