Entertainment

Carol McGiffin and Denise Welch sad to have been ‘airbrushed’ out of Loose Women

They were not invited to take part in the the programme’s 18th birthday celebrations.
They were not invited to take part in the the programme’s 18th birthday celebrations. They were not invited to take part in the the programme’s 18th birthday celebrations.

Former Loose Women stars Carol McGiffin and Denise Welch said they have been “airbrushed” from the show’s history after they were left out of the programme’s 18th birthday celebrations.

The ITV daytime chat show marked its anniversary with a special episode celebrating its history but McGiffin and Welch were not included in the line-up.

McGiffin wrote on Twitter that she was “not furious, not surprised, just a teeny bit sad”.

When one fan expressed his upset that she was not featured, she wrote: “All is very well thanks, and it’s ok, I don’t mind being more or less airbrushed from LW history.”

McGiffin appeared in more than 1,000 episodes of the popular chat show.

When another fan expressed his hope she would be on the anniversary programme, she replied: “Don’t be daft Aaron, I only did 13 years and over 1,000 shows, why would I even be asked???!!!”

Another viewer said he thought she had been missing from the archive footage aired and McGiffin responded: “You’re not the only one who noticed … it’s not like they didn’t have a lot of material to choose from! #1,174shows.”

Welch wrote on Twitter: “Thank you all for asking. I’m in Greece having a wonderful time. But no, I wasn’t asked to be part of @loosewomen celebrations.”

She added: “It was time for me to leave 4 yrs ago but sad to have been airbrushed when you share your life for 10 years.”

When a fan asked McGiffin what she had done to be left out, she responded: “Dunno. Maybe it’s because We (the old gang) left and the show stopped winning awards? Who knows? X”

She also retweeted a message from the show’s official account, which read: “Soooooo many incredible women on the show over the past 18 years. Don’t miss the show tomorrow to celebrate! 12.30pm on @ITV #LooseWomen18”, adding: ” Yeah, don’t miss the show because sooooo many of those ‘incredible’ women won’t be on it!”

She later wished the show a happy birthday, writing: “Happy 18th Birthday @loosewomen hope you’re not missing me too much!!!”

The duo did get a special mention during the show, with panellist Kaye Adams saying: “We can’t leave out two classics. Carol McGiffin and Denise Welch have both been in touch to say happy birthday, two wonderful women who have done brilliantly well.”

A spokeswoman for ITV said: “We’ve had 166 incredible Loose Women over the years and we’ve tried to reflect as many of those as possible in our celebrations across the week.

“All of our panellists have played a huge part in Loose Women history which we’ll be celebrating today.”