Penny Lancaster is said to be the latest panellist to quit Loose Women following reports of “toxicity” backstage.
The 52-year-old former model, who has been a regular on the ITV chat show since 2014, no longer features on the official cast list.
Lancaster, who is married to rocker Rod Stewart, exits the daytime program following former panellists Carol McGiffin and Saira Khan.
“Penny enjoyed doing the show but it requires a lengthy commitment from regular panel members and this is something Penny cannot do,” a source told The Sun.
“She’s touring with Rod and also has family commitments both in the UK and abroad. She could still make a guest appearance.”
The news comes after agent Melanie Blake, who represented 15 women on Loose Women, slammed the show following the recent This Morning Phillip Schofield scandal.
She said: “In my experience, it’s that show that’s a cut-throat place to work and not This Morning.”
She previously told The Sun: “Put a load of ambitious women together with a small amount of seats to fill and inevitably there is always going to be tension.
“Showbiz isn’t all diamonds and rosé. Despite the party line of the Loose Women having been best of friends from day one, it’s simply that, a party line.
Khan, 53, left Loose Women in late 2021 after claiming show bosses asked her to open an account on the adult site OnlyFans to create content – an allegation ITV denies. The former host, 63, said: “I felt humiliated, angry, disappointed.”
Meanwhile, McGriffin, who parted ways with Loose Women earlier this year after 23 years, told GB News in May: “There are a lot of people who think the programme has gone very, very woke... [ITV] is not a place where I feel I fit in.”
However, it’s the 63-year-old’s controversial views on Covid, which saw her accuse the World Health Organisation of a “plot”, which is reportedly to blame for her departure.
