Singer Anastacia and businesswoman Emma Grede have reportedly been signed to a two-month Loose Women contract in a desperate bid to revive the show.
Some of the programme’s biggest presenters have left the show in recent months, with Denise Welch and Nadia Sawalha the latest stars to leave.
Bosses are said to have been preparing a brand new action plan all summer to freshen up the scandal-hit show with new panellists.
Emma, 43, co-founded Khloe Kardashian’s denim company Good American and Kim K’s SKIMS empire.
The British entrepreneur became a hit on Dragon’s Den and has since launched her successful Aspire podcast.
Meanwhile, Anastacia, 57, has sold 50 million records worldwide and, like Emma, has previously appeared as guests on the programme.
An insider said: ‘If we’re being honest, Loose Women has become a bit of a train wreck. Over the past twelve months we have seen scandal after scandal.
‘Combine that with the cuts and it’s a perfect storm. ITV have offered both Emma and Anastacia contracts that will see them appear as panellists on the show.”
Singer Anastacia (pictured) and businesswoman Emma Grede have reportedly been signed to a two-month Loose Women contract in a desperate bid to revive the show
Bosses are said to have spent the summer coming up with a brand new plan of action to revamp the scandal hit show with new panelists (Emma pictured in April)
‘Both have been as guests, so they know the setup. Emma was a big hit on Dragons’ Den and we hope she will bring a younger audience to the show,” she added. The sun.
The Daily Mail has contacted ITV representatives Anastacia and Emma for comment.
ITV announced dramatic cuts to the daytime programme, from halving Lorraine to 30 minutes and only airing the show during school terms to reducing production of Loose Women to 30 weeks a year.
At the time, Nadia expressed her sadness that the show was cutting a live studio audience and as a result her close friend and colleague, Lee Peart, who works as a warm-up artist, lost his job.
She said: ‘I’m completely devastated by this, I can’t get over it at all. Not only because the audience is so important to the show, but also my dear friend Lee who I work with every day.’
Nadia also expressed her feelings about the ‘brutal’ cuts to Loose Women, as she explained how tough the May announcement had been on staff.
She explained: ‘This show has been very successful for 25 years, in fact it’s such a distinct brand…
‘The brutality of the world… what a lot of people don’t realize is that we are self-employed, every contract is a new contract, I could be fired tomorrow or in five years, we are not employees.
“What has been absolutely cruel this past week, and honestly, it brings tears to my eyes, is that hundreds of people are going to be fired out of nowhere, these are people behind the scenes supporting us in every way possible.
The British entrepreneur became a hit on Dragon’s Den and has since launched her successful Aspire podcast
Some of the programme’s biggest presenters have left the show in recent months, with Denise Welch and Nadia Sawalha the latest stars to depart (pictured together in 2019)
‘That’s the way the world is, inflation is crazy, austerity needs to be made… many of my friends and colleagues at this show and at ITV have been there for decades, and I can’t tell you how disturbing it was to see people walking around, numb with shock and fear at what they were about to do.’
Following Denise’s departure, Sherrie and former co-star Carol McGiffin both took swipes at the ITV show.
Sherrie, 75, who left the program in 2016 after 14 years, said she believes women “no longer have the same freedom” to speak on the show.
She said: ‘Times have changed, but we were very free and we could talk about anything. We could say anything.
‘We could discuss whatever we wanted, but now you can’t. It’s a very different time. You need to be checked; You can’t say this, you can’t say that. It was just very free.
“It was just women talking, but we didn’t think anyone was watching, and I don’t think there was.”
