'Humiliated' Loose Women stars boycott NTAs as This Morning scoops big award

Stars from the ITV daytime show Loose Women were noticeably absent from this year's National Television Awards, while the programme's sister show, This Morning, won an award

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Several stars of Loose Women were noticeably absent from the National Television Awards. The ITV lunchtime chat show, which has aired since 1999, failed to with in the Daytime category and lost out to rival This Morning again.

Fans of the programme will know that the future of the show has come into question amid a series of budget cuts at the broadcaster, and along with Lorraine, the amount of episodes will face a dramatic reduction from January.

The debate show has regularly featured stars such as Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Jane Moore on its panel for several years now, whilst Ruth Langsford, Charlene White, Kaye Adams and Christine Lampard are regular anchors. In recent years, Love Island's Olivia Attwood and TikTok str GK Barry have been welcome additions to the programme, but, at this stage, no one knows who will keep their job.

All of this meant 'a lot of them decided not to attend' last night's ceremony and, according to an insider, the lunchtime ladies are 'sick' of losing out to This Morning, when fellow ITV Daytime programmes never even receiving a nomination to begin with.

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A source said: "The truth is, the panellists are sick of always missing out to This Morning in the Daytime category, it has become humiliating for them over the years. There is always a sense that 'this could be the year' when the presenters attend the NTAs, as they truly believe they deserve a win."

Fresh hope was given to the show's line-up last year when This Morning lost long-running hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby quit, but according to the source, the women 'all felt very disappointed' when The Chase won the coveted gong instead.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the insider added: "Of course, many of the panellists don't really feel like celebrating right now, they are months away from having the show's budget slashed and many in production set to lose their jobs.

"It just didn't feel right for many to attend a big, red-carpet event in the midst of all this sadness."

Last night, newsreader Charlene attended the glamorous event at the O2 Arena, along with Olivia Attwood, Katie Piper Linda Robson and Frankie Bridge. But the year before, at least 12 of the stars arrived to find out if they had won the award.

The only time Loose Women has won an NTA was in 2010, when they were named Most Popular Factual Programme, beating Top Gear, The Apprentice and Come Dine With Me to the title. At the time, Coleen, a regular member of the panel, having featured almost continuously since 2000, and she collected the award alongside former Coronation Street actress Denise Welch, columnist Carol McGiffin, West End star Zoe Tyler and singer Jane McDonald. The Mirror has contacted ITV for comment.

Meanwhile, Alison Hammond, who has been a regular face on This Morning for years, admitted that it was a huge 'relief' they had won, especially after they managed to claim the title back after two years of losing out to The Repair Shop and The Chase.

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Phoning into Thursday's edition of This Morning, she told regular hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: "I'm still buzzing from last night, what a brilliant night. It was just lovely.

"We hadn't had it for two years running now and what's so incredible is when our audience vote for us, we know we're doing okay. It was just such a relief and we're just so grateful that everyone picked up the phone and voted for us."

Over the last few years, the show has been through numerous lineup changes following the departure of long-serving hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. The duo, who began presenting together in 2009, first came under fire when they were alleged to have jumped the queue to file past Queen Elizabeth's coffin in September 2022.

Then, Phillip, who first appeared on the programme in 2002 and initially presented alongside Fern Britton, admitted to an 'unwise but not illegal' affair with a younger colleague, and subsequently stepped down from the show and ITV altogether. Holly followed suit soon after security guard Gavin Plumb was charged in connection with a scheme to abduct and kill her.

He was found guilty and last year was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years behind bars.

A litany of hosts like Josie Gibson, Craig Doyle, Rochelle Humes and Andi Peters took their place over a period of weeks before Cat and Ben were given the top jobs.

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