She officially left the ITV daytime show back in 2005, but has appeared as a guest a few times since.
And now, Jenny Powell, 54, has revealed that she left Loose Women because she was ‘intimidated’ by her fellow panellists and disliked like the ‘energy behind the scenes.’
17 years since she last appeared as a panellist on the show, the TV presenter jokingly described the energy on set as ‘fake’ while explaining her reasons for leaving.
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Yikes! Jenny Powell, 54, has revealed that she left Loose Women because she felt ‘intimated’ by her fellow panellists and ‘didn’t like the energy behind the scenes’ (Pictured as a guest in 2017)
Jenny told The Sun: ‘I sacked it off. I didn’t like the energy behind the scenes. I always felt a bit intimidated of the other women.’
She was then overheard describing the energy as ‘fake’ before adding: ‘No, I’m joking. Maybe I’m just a bit sensitive?’
Speaking to The Mirror, eight months after leaving Loose Women, Saira explained why she left: ‘Firstly, I’d outgrown the programme.
‘There were some women that I just thought, ”I’ve got to just tolerate you to do the job and in real life you wouldn’t be my friend.” They’d say the same about me,
‘Plus, I shared a lot about myself on that show – my abuse, adoption, arranged marriage and a lot of relationship stuff. You don’t get a lot of thanks for that.’
Asked about whether she considers her departure the right decision, Saira went on: ‘Yes. When you turn up to a job where your heart’s not in it, the only thing you can do is make a change […]
‘When you’re there discussing a subject with your friends in a very innocent way, the amount of trolling you get online is horrendous. It just becomes toxic for women.’
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Awkward: Back in September 2021, former panelist Saira Khan revealed there were certain women on the Loose Women panel that she ‘just had to tolerate’ in order to ‘do the job’
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Co-stars: The star confessed she ‘wouldn’t be friends in real life’ with all of her co-stars (pictured with former co-stars Andrea McLean, Coleen Nolan, Nadia Sawalha in 2019)
Saira announced that she was leaving Loose Women, just two weeks after fellow panellist Andrea McLean quit the show.
When she announced her plans to leave in November 2020, Andrea broke down in tears and also detailed how her departure was also linked to her nervous breakdown.
Andrea explained: ‘Like so many people this has been a time to hugely reflect and think back. So many people have been talking about how they can’t wait for life to get back to normal.
‘I, like many people, did that and thought, ‘Do I want my life to go back to the normal that it was before?’
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Time to say goodbye! Andrea McLean announced her plans to leave Loose Women back in November 2020, revealing how her departure was also linked to her nervous breakdown
She told viewers: ‘Last year I had a nervous breakdown and this year the world has had a breakdown. This year I’ve been really mentally strong to deal with everything the pandemic has thrown at us.
‘You get one life, are you living it the way you want? Are you being brave? Are you doing the thing you want?’
Becoming emotional, Andrea added: ‘I didn’t think I was going to cry. I’ve told you ladies just before we came on air. I’m going to be leaving Loose Women because I want to be brave…
‘All the incredible feedback that I had from my book and the support I was able to give them, I want to bring it to life. It was a really, really big decision to jump and see if I fall or if I fly. And I just thought, I will never know unless I try, so I am saying goodbye to Loose Women.’
