Loose Women is celebrating 25 years on TV but after not being included in a celebration picture, fans of the ITV show fear it could be the end of the road for one much-loved panelist

Loose Women has been on ITV since 1999(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

There was one Loose Women regular missing as the show marked its 25th anniversary – and it left fans wondering if she’ll ever be back.

The show has released a silver jubilee-inspired portrait featuring 18 of the long-running programme’s panellists for the first time. It features four of the originals from when the daytime programme first hit screens in 1999 as Jane Moore, Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha and Ruth Langsford posed up a storm.

Also in the shots are Judi Love, Katie Piper, Christine Lampard, Kelle Bryan, Frankie Bridge and Dame Kelly Holmes with fans quick to notice Charlene White, Sunetra Sarker and Olivia Attwood-Dack joining titans Denise Welch, Linda Robson, Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Brenda Edwards.

But they couldn’t ignore the fact that one very familiar face hadn’t taken part. Much-loved Stacey Solomon was nowhere to be seen as speculation about the mum-of-five’s future on the ITV show continues amid her career shake-up. But Stacey appeared via video link, saying: “Happy birthday to you, Loose Women. I can’t believe you’re 25 years old and I can’t believe I get to call myself a Loose Woman, I’m such a proud Loose Woman! 25 incredible years and so many more to come. Love you loads and loads.”

Stacey Solomon has only appeared once in the past two years (Image: ITV)

Many were quick to pick up on her absence from the shot and one wrote in the comments: “Where’s Stacey gone?!” Another said: “This would have been better with Stacey,” followed by a crying emoji. After making her debut in 2016, Stacey decided to pause her involvement back in December 2022.

The mum-of-five did pop back for a brief visit in November and explained why we haven’t seen much of her on Loose Women. She told viewers: “It’s been crazy because Belle was a wonderful surprise, but what that meant was that I had to fit my filming schedule into a very short period of time. ” I’ve just been up and down the country with Sort Your Life Out and filming another show so I haven’t been able to even get into town.”

Linda doesn’t expect to see her back any time soon: “She’s not going to be a regular anymore? I don’t think so, but you never know,” she told The Sun. “I would love her to come back, she’s a really good Loose Woman – she’s really honest. But I think she’s got too much on. She’s still really welcome but she’s just so busy.”

Reflecting recently on the show’s long-running success, Ruth said: “I was on Loose Women from the very start and I have noticed a huge difference in how much more open people are about talking about difficult subjects. I believe that we have helped bring that about because we bring honesty to the show, we bring our own lives to the show.

“We talk about very difficult, painful things in our lives, but we know that that reflects what people are going through themselves at home and now we talk about Alzheimer’s, suicide, divorce, all sorts of things that were a little bit taboo and I think it’s great that we do that.”

Loose Women editor Sally Shelford said: “Over the last 25 years, Loose Women has tackled taboos and talked about issues not openly discussed on television, including domestic abuse, menopause, miscarriage and grief. Our incredible audience in the studio and at home have always been the fifth Loose Woman, and we promise to keep talking, sharing and shining a light on important subjects like these for our amazing viewers.”