Olivia Attwood's concerns over Loose Women as she admits 'sometimes I f**k up'

Olivia Attwood might be a huge TV star but, just like the rest of us, sometimes she doubts herself, and when she got the call to be a panelist on Loose Women, there was one big question on her mind.

The 32 year old is unquestionably one of the most successful people ever to come out of the hit ITV2 show Love Island, and she's since been snapped up by ITV, with a multitude of her own shows, from documentaries to a fly-on-the-wall series.

But landing a coveted role on Loose Women in 2023 is no doubt one of her biggest coups to date, and in an exclusive interview with OK!, Olivia opened up on how it all came about, and what she thought to meeting the Loose Women....

Hi Olivia! Congratulations on your job as a Loose Women panelist. How did it all come about?

Olivia: It wasn't something that was on the mood board. It all happened really organically. I was a guest on the show a couple of times, and I always loved it when I was. I joked to my agent saying 'Imagine me as a Loose Woman' and she said she really could. Then one of the show's bosses got in touch and we went out for lunch, she asked me how I would feel about trying it out, and I said, 'Oh my God, are you serious?' I almost thought it was a joke.

Is Loose Women something you've always wanted to do?

Olivia: I watched that show on TV when I was a kid, when I was off sick from school - my mum would always have it on the telly, so it's quite surreal to be doing it now.

How are you getting on with the other Loose Women?

Olivia: The Loose Women ladies have had the most insane broadcasting and journalism careers, so I just feel like there's a wealth of knowledge either side of me and they've all been so nice - that was the biggest thing for me. I was thinking 'Oh my God, they're going to be looking at me and thinking what is she doing here?' but it wasn't like that, they were all just so lovely.

Are they all happy to impart their wisdom upon you?

Olivia: They were all giving me tips and telling me where I was going right or wrong, which was great. It's all just been really nice.

Is there anyone you've struck up a particular bond with on the show?

Olivia: Linda [Robson] is the funniest person ever, so I always hope I'm on the show with her because she's so naughty, like me. She's got a potty mouth like I do, and she makes me laugh. If I'm sitting next to her on the panel, I always have to be careful not to crack up laughing because she's just so funny. And then Coleen [Nolan] and Christine [Lampard] I get on really well with. They've both been really supportive of me. Ruth [Langsford] was great on my first show and Judi [Love] is hilarious. There's just a great mix of women on there.

You were quite a controversial character on Love Island [in 2017], is there anything you would do differently if you were on the show now?

Olivia: I always say to everyone, people have to be careful when they kind of complain about the edits on TV shows, because everything people saw of me, I did, and it's just a reflection of who I was at the time. I was very defensive, I went in there off the back of a breakup, and Chris and I just weren't compatible, so it was very stressful. It's a pressure cooker, being on that show and you can't escape it. I've grown up a lot since I was on there and I like to think I'm much more mellow now, but if you sat me back in Love Island for ten weeks and I was coupled up with someone who I was struggling with, you probably see a little bit of the same again. It does bring out the best and the worst of you.

OK!: You've got millions of Instagram followers and your fans love you. Why do you think people relate to you so much?

Olivia: That's a really hard question to answer about myself. I think, and hope, that I keep it real to an extent, in the sense of the fact that - even on the Love Island days - I f****d up sometimes and I'd say 'oh, I shouldn't have said that'. I think I always admit when I've done something wrong, and I try not to give people a rehearsed version of myself. I just try to be authentic, which is really hard in this day and age.

Olivia has teamed up with livestream shopping service AliExpress, as their 'It Girl'. AliExpress Shoppers can find out more about AliExpress here