Loose Women viewers 'physically ill' over 'vile' and 'disgusting' panel chat on live TV
Loose Women viewers were shocked by the panel's discussion on body hair during the live ITV show.
The presenters' chat turned to women growing excess hair in later life on Friday's show, 21 June, with hosts Kaye Adams, 61, Judi Love, 44, Linda Robson, 66, and Dame Kelly Holmes, 54, all weighing in with their views.
"Have you noticed increased body hair as you've got older?" asked Kaye at the start of the segment, explaining that 75% of women do so, for various reasons including the menopause, hormonal changes and certain medication. She then turned to Linda, to say: "So, Linda, have you got bits sprouting where they shouldn't be sprouting?"
Linda Robson went on to talk about her pubic hair, suggesting she previously had "a lovely, brown bushy..." before adding: "Now all I've got is a few stragglers."
As the studio audience laughed, she went on to explain how she now doesn't have much hair on her arms and joked she only shaves the front of her legs, leaving out the back, with Judi visibly shocked.
The discussion continued with more laughter and innuendo, as Judi added her thoughts, relating how she went to the dentist, only to be confronted with reality: "I had this tooth taken out, I was a bit dazed and she looked at me and said, 'Hell no, that's got to go – all that hair under your chin bogleing in the wind.'"
Next, Kaye explained she had a mole on her neck with a hair growing from it, and that they were going to remove it live on air.
Soon, Judi and Kelly were ready with some clippers and a keepsake box, in a bid to rid Kaye of the excess hair.
"Oh my god, these are bent," Kelly exclaimed as she approached Kaye's chin, with Kaye saying: "Well make sure they're bent the right way."
"Hold it out," Kelly instructed, adding, "I'm shaking," before she finally snipped the hair to huge cheers from the audience.
But viewers at home were less than impressed by what they were watching, expressing their horror on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Why has this show descended into being gross," asked one outraged fan, with another commenting: "Car crash tv at it's finest!"
"This is the weirdest episode EVER," said someone else, with a fourth person penning: "That's disgusting, just spat my brew out," and a fifth saying: "This is vile and it’s making me physically ill."
A sixth person added: "Why did you show the tugging of a hair from a mole at lunchtime??? Thanks so much for that."
It's not the first time Loose Women has courted controversy. Earlier this month, fans were shocked at a comment made by veteran journalist Janet Street-Porter, directed at fellow talk show panellist Denise Welch. The pair, along with Brenda Edwards and host Christine Lampard, were debating whether parents should pay their children to encourage them to pass exams when Janet boasted that she had earned 11 ‘O’ levels at school.
Ex-Coronation Street star Denise spoke about her own experience of education: “When I was doing my ‘O’ Levels, my mum and dad could have offered me the world and I would have still climbed down the drainpipe to go and be with my boyfriend. I was awful as regards revising and studying and it just wasn’t for me.”
“I managed to get five ‘O’ Levels,” she added, only for Janet to interrupt and say, “Is that all?” Denise then confessed that her exams were done in two sittings because she had to resit Needlework.
And, just days before, the show descended into chaos as two panellists accidentally swore live on air, with Kaye forced to apologise to TV viewers.
The women discussed modern slang abbreviations to kick off the episode, with Kaye giving examples of modern terms largely used on social media, such as Platty Joobs to refer to the Platinum Jubilee.
The panellists weren't impressed by the new words and began to share old slang, while arguing it was better and made more sense. At the end of the chat, Janet asked: "Can I say t*ts up?"
The audience began laughing, with Kaye warning her co-star: "Janet, the answer to that you asked me a question and no."
The show then cut to an ad break, with no one addressing Janet's blunder. Having returned from the break, the group turned their focus to Brenda's fashion choices. She explained how she prefers jumpsuits over dresses, but her fellow panellists didn't agree with her.
As Kaye advocated for wearing dresses, she said: "Well, I mean lets see these b****y...". She stopped herself at the end of the word, and gasped as she realised what she'd said on live TV.
"Everybody is naughty on this panel today, you lot are naughty," Brenda said, as everyone laughed. Denise joked: "It's half term Kaye Adams".
