Loose Women: The ITV show's most controversial moments

Carol McGiffin has accused Loose Women of being "very woke" having quit the show after over 20 years appearing on the panel.

The TV presenter has claimed there were certain topics ITV would not let her express her opinions on while appearing on the live panel show.

It may be McGiffin's opinion that Loose Women has become very wary of causing offence — but the daytime show has a history of controversy.

Read more: Charlene White addresses Carol McGiffin's exit from Loose Women (Huffpost, 3 min read)

Here are some of the most shocking things to have happened on the ITV show over the years, many of which prompted viewers to complain.

Judy Finnigan rape comments

Judy Finnigan joined Loose Women in 2014. On her very first day she was part of a discussion about Welsh footballer Ched Evans launching an appeal against his conviction for rape (of which he was eventually found not guilty on appeal in 2016).

The Richard and Judy star said Evans had "served his time" and added "The rape was not violent, he didn't cause any bodily harm to the person."

Following public outrage she apologised in statement saying: "I absolutely wasn't suggesting that rape was anything other than an horrendous crime and, as I said on the programme, I was in no way attempting to minimise the terrible ordeal that any woman suffers as a result.

"The point I was attempting to raise as part of the debate was what should happen to someone after they have committed a crime and served their time?"

Harvey Price turns the air blue

Reality star Katie Price took son Harvey on the show in 2016 to discuss being trolled on social media.

Asked what he would say to someone who was mean to him Harvey, then 13, replied "Hello you c***."

Andrea McLean quickly apologised for his bad language on the live daytime show.

Coleen Nolan compares gay rights to Islamic state

Coleen Nolan caused uproar in 2015 when discussing a Christian bakery that had made the news after refusing to decorate a cake with a slogan supporting same ex marriage.

Nolan defended the owners saying: "If you went in somewhere and they said two days later 'we don't want to make your cake because of our beliefs' you'd just never go back to that shop and tell all your friends to boycott it.

Read more: Coleen Nolan says Coronation made her 'uncomfortable'

"What if somebody walked in and said 'I want a cake with Islamic State on it and how I support it and how I support them killing our people' and because it's a business would they have to make that?"

Some angry viewers called for Nolan to be sacked over the comments, but 23 years later she is still there.

Jamelia pulls apart plus-size clothes

Jamelia, 42, was a regular Loose Women panelist between 2013 and 2016.

The singer attracted much criticism in 2015 when she said plus size clothes ranges should be scrapped because she believed they encouraged an unhealthy lifestyle.

Jamelia ended up apologising for any offense caused, but stood by her comments. She said in a statement: "I didn't make it clear on the show that I was talking about extremes, I was talking about above size 20 and below size six, those sizes being available en masse.

Read more: Jamelia breaks her silence after being 'axed' from Loose Women

"Knowing that I offended people really upset me. Knowing that I made people question themselves and their choices, it really did upset me. All I can do is apologise for that."

But she added: "I do stand by what I said ... I'm a real woman with real opinions. I get paid to voice my opinions."

Joan Rivers' Russell Crowe rant

When the late comedian Joan Rivers appeared on the show in 2008 she was asked about meeting Hollywood stars on the red carpet.

Rivers said: "You get someone like Russell Crowe, and you want to say to the camera 'He is a piece- get ready to bleep this - of f***ing s***!'"

The Loose Women had to apologise to viewers as Jane McDonald told her "We haven't got a bleeper. We're live!"

Josie Cunningham's abortion revelation

When model Josie Cunningham appeared on the show she revealed she had a pregnancy terminated in order to have a nose job.

She said: "You can't have a rhinoplasty at least a year after giving birth so the pregnancy would have delayed the process by 18 months."

Cunningham said the "termination wasn't an easy decision" but claimed that since being bullied in her teens, her looks had become her priority.

Panellist Jane Moore told her: "Everything you’ve just said about being bullied, etc. You actually need help. You don't need to be helped to come on shows like this and say something else shocking that fuels the next pay cheque or whatever."

But Josie responded: "I'm not in this for the fame, it's purely the money."

Kim Woodburn storms out after Coleen clash

Reality TV star Kim Woodburn appeared on the show in 2018 as part of an effort by producers to patch up her differences with panelist Coleen Nolan.

Woodburn and Nolan had fallen out when they both appeared on Celebrity Big Brother the year before.

But the mediation fell apart with Woodburn crying: “I’ll never forget what the likes of what her and others put me through... I wouldn't want to sit and talk like lying trash like you."

As she stormed out of the studio the programme cut to a break. The incident prompted over 3,000 complaints to Ofcom and Nolan took a break from the show for several months afterwards.

ITV released a statement afterwards saying : “We invited Kim on the show to reconcile with Coleen and put their differences behind them. But it didn’t go to plan.

“After 18 months, we were hoping the two women would let bygones be bygones. But it wasn’t to be.”

Saira Khan's sensational quitting claim

Saira Khan has claimed she quit the show after being asked to join OnlyFans.

The 52-year-old TV presenter quit the ITV panel show at the end of 2020 after five years and went on to say her exit was triggered by a producer asking her to launch an account on the subscription-only glamour content platform, as part of an 'undercover' report on OnlyFans.

Read more: Loose Women bosses deny Saira Khan's claims she quit over being asked to join OnlyFans

A spokesperson for Loose Women denied the claims, saying: "We strongly refute all of these claims. Duty of care is of paramount importance for all of our panellists."

Business woman Khan — who rose to fame after competing in reality show The Apprentice in 2005 — has been vocal about her discontent working on the panel show and said she struggled to fit in.

Women at war

Rumours of a feud among the Loose Women panelists began to circulate in late 2021, with claims that all was not so friendly when the cameras stopped rolling.

Coleen Nolan told her social media followers that she was planning to take legal action over the feud rumours and promised to address them live on air in January 2022. But when the show aired nothing was said.

Nolan later tweeted: "I’m so sorry we couldn’t say what we planned to today but my lawyer advised me to go through the legal process, but rest assured you will hear the outcome of this and I will share it when I can."

Read more: Who is Denise Welch?

The rumours have rumbled on.

The show is all about debate and the panelists often clash on air.

Kaye Adams confessed: "I’m not going to deny that there are occasions when people maybe have a bit of a beef with somebody else but it’s nothing that hasn’t been fixable."

Watch: Coleen Nolan questions value of the Coronation on Loose Women