ITV is weighing cost-cutting changes to Loose Women that could see its long-standing live studio audience dropped, part of a broader belt-tightening push inside the ITV Daytime portfolio.
The live audience—an integral part of the panel show since its 1999 launch—had only been paused temporarily during Covid restrictions. But its permanent removal is now reportedly under serious consideration as ITV addresses sliding ratings and softer ad revenue in the daytime slot.
The live audience setup is far from cheap: it involves an external contractor managing ticketing, security, and warm-up entertainment. With Loose Women potentially relocating to a smaller studio space that can’t accommodate a crowd, the format change could be both a financial and logistical call.
Behind the scenes, not everyone’s on board. Several panelists are understood to be frustrated by the proposed shift, arguing the audience interaction differentiates Loose Women from other ITV daytime fare. Critics, however, including Mirror’s TV columnist Vivian Summers, have suggested the absence of a live crowd might sharpen the show’s focus.
Loose Women is produced at Television Centre, now operated by BBC Studioworks, after ITV shuttered its own South Bank facility in 2018. It’s the latest legacy format under review, with ITV already rejigging its soap production model heading into 2026.
Live audiences were once a fixture across ITV daytime—including for shows like Jeremy Kyle, Lunch Box, and Daytime Live—but as margins tighten, the unscripted energy of a live crowd is increasingly looking like a luxury.
