Loose Women star breaks silence on Carol McGiffin’s shock exit and slams ‘woke views’ on ITV show
LOOSE Women star Charlene White has broken her silence on Carol McGiffin’s shock exit – saying she “understands” why she left.
Carol, 63, – who joined the show in 2000 – told how she had “stepped back” from her Loose Women daytime TV gig due to “unjust” contract disputes.
She then went onto blast “woke” Loose Women bosses after quitting the ITV panel.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Charlene said: “I miss Carol hugely, I’ve always had incredible banter with Carol in our morning meetings together and we had so much fun.
“I am going to hugely miss her and miss her voice and her energy and her banter.
“I understand her reason for leaving – we are all individuals and all see things in our own individual way.
“It’s a huge shame, the show will really miss her and as a group we’ll really miss her, she’s our colleague and we’ve worked with her for a really long time.”
Last month it was reported that Carol’s controversial views on the coronavirus pandemic – which saw the TV star accuse the World Health Organisation of a “plot” – are said to be to blame for her exit.
Carol recently slammed Loose Women for forcing “woke views down viewers” throats’ and said the “programme has gone very, very woke”.
Addressing this, Charlene said: “When it comes to woke – I’m always of the opinion that it’s a word that people don’t understand.
“I’m not a fan of using it in any shape or form. I don’t think I’ve ever used ‘woke’ on any platform or any TV show I’ve ever done.
“I’m a big believer in diversity and inclusion and equality and I think those things we can’t ever forget or let pass, because it’s opening up paths to everybody and opening up opportunities to everybody can only be a good thing.
“We are on a show that promotes debate and we have debates between us and that’s one of the joys of the programme we work on – we can have different opinions but we are all friends at the end of the day and you see that on the programme.”
Carol last month took aim at show bosses for an alleged “totally unjust” contract dispute.
According to MailOnline, her comments on TNT radio were at the “centre” of her decision to quit.
Carol’s TNT Radio interview for The Freeman Report with James Freeman is said to have seen her accuse media organisations of being “bought off by the Government.”
Her comments prompted a flood of calls to the radio network as well as ITV, with some demanding she be sacked.
An ITV spokesperson has told The Sun: “ITV will not comment on speculation around individual contracts. We understand that Carol has decided to leave Loose Women and we wish her well in any future projects.”
A source close to the show also said: “Any theories around Covid discussed by Carol on a platform outside of ITV would be her personal opinions, have not been broadcast as part of Loose Women and do not represent the views of ITV.
“Here at ITV we encourage free speech, but equally are fully committed to responsible broadcasting and adhering to the Ofcom code.”
It came after Carol told Best Magazine how the “stress” over upcoming contract negotiations had been impacting her life.
She said: “I haven’t been on the show for two months now because I’ve had to step away from it.
“It was causing me too much stress, which was mostly down to a difficult contract issue I’d been challenging since January.
“The problem was, ITV were insisting, for the first time since I went back in 2018, that if I wanted to carry on doing the show, I would have to sign a contract that was totally unjust and unworkable for me, so I had to say no thanks.
“And I know it looks like I’ve thrown my toys out of the pram, but the whole saga was affecting my health.”