Linda Robson has exclusively revealed that she and her Loose Women castmates are doing their best to “stay positive” after ITV unveiled plans to drastically scale back the show.
Back in May, ITV Studios announced it would be making major changes to Loose Women, Lorraine, This Morning and Good Morning Britain as part of a cost-cutting overhaul.
The cuts mean that more than 220 of 440 staff involved will lose their jobs, with Lorraine hit hardest after having its runtime scaled down from an hour to 30 minutes and only on air for 30 weeks a year.
Meanwhile, Loose Women’s runtime was untouched, but the cuts mean that it will only be on the air for 30 weeks out 52 a year.
News of colleagues’ imminent departures is believed to have hit staff hard, with Nadia Sawalha one vocal critic of the changes.
Delivering an update on the current state of affairs, Robson spoke to GB News at this year’s National Reality TV Awards.
“We’re all trying to stay as positive as we can, really,” she optimistically said before looking toward the future.
“So yeah, we’ve all got holidays to look forward to as well. We’re off to Cyprus in about a week’s time.
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“I’ve just been to Mallorca with Lesley Joseph, Bruno Tonioli – a lot of us went out there. It was really nice.”
Having been a mainstay on the panel for two decades, Robson has already seen her fair share of changes among the cast of the show.
But it’s a recipe that she believes has made the show the long-running success it has been.
“We have got lots of older Loose Women. We’ve got Gloria (Hunniford), we’ve got Janet (Street-Porter), and then some of us are in our 60s, and then we’ve got the younger ones.
“So it’s quite nice to have the younger ones and the older ones.”
Robson was attending the NRTAs with her daughter Lauren. When asked what makes her proud to be British, Robson wasted no time in pointing towards her child.
“Oh well, one of the proudest things is my kids, I’ve got three wonderful children,” she replied. “They’re all a credit to me.
“I always say I’ve done a really good job with my kids because they are amazing, the three of them.”
But there is one thing that trumps spending time with her daughter. “But my favourite job in the whole world is my granddaughters. So looking after them,” she said.
Robson was one of a number of big-name winners during Wednesday’s ceremony, with the Loose Women star picking up a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Elsewhere, GB News even managed to bag an award for Best News Programme following the public vote.
“Well, listen, we must thank our viewers. It’s all down to them. It’s you guys listening at home, watching or listening wherever you are,” Christopher said.
“Thank you. Without that, we wouldn’t get the credit for those awards. Thank you. Absolutely.”