Nadia Sawalha’s upcoming return to Loose Women has received an unwelcomes response backstage.(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha is set to make her return to the talk show, however this decision hasn’t been welcomed by many as ITV is reportedly facing a ‘civil war’ backstage. Sources have claimed that a 15-page dossier of letters demanding her return be halted has been sent to higher-ups.
This abrupt reaction comes as Nadia has been away from the panel show since April due to controversy surrounding her Youtube channel with husband Mark Adderley. At the time, Adderley had been suspended from the Green Party ahead of elections due to allegations that he shared posts comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.
Following the videos uploaded on the couple’s channel Coffee Moaning, Nadia was seen to take time away from Loose Women. As speculation rose about whether she had been suspended from the show, Nadia issued a statement, writing: “I have not been suspended from Loose Women, but thank you for your lovely messages.”
Now set to make her return to ITV daytime show, which she has been a fixture on for the last 13 years, not everyone behind the scenes are happy about the decision, reports the Mirror. It has been reported that a collection of letters have been sent to higher-ups to try and halt her return.
One source explained: “There is so much bad blood. Nadia has many defenders on the show but others have made it crystal clear they will flat-out refuse to work with her.”
Speaking to The Sun, sources have said that the 61-year-old is thought to be a “loose cannon” and that some are worried that her appearance on the show will tarnish their own reputations. Additionally, they said that some of the cast felt there was a double standard in how Nadia’s situation was treated.
Nadia first appeared on Loose Women in 1999 and has been a fixture of the show since 2013.(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock )
The said: “Other stars have been hung out to dry or quietly iced out over relatively small misdemeanours, yet execs seem determined to defend Nadia.”
With a feeling brewing that there is “one rule for Nadia and another for the rest”, insiders have claimed that “bitterness” is building up backstage as people see ITV’s “protective” attitude towards Sawalha.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported from another source that ITV bosses are now in a state of “total panic” after receiving the 15-page dossier.
Nadia made her first appearance on Loose Women back in 1999 and was routinely on programme until 2002. She then returned to the panel show in 2013 and has become a fixture of the show in the 13 years since.
Controversy surrounding Nadia and her husband spiralled after Nadia accused “dark forces” of smearing Adderley following his suspension.
In a Youtube video, she said: “We’ve been punished all along right from when we first started talking about Palestine. The dark forces behind everything that you see is quite extraordinary, I have to tell you.”
At the time, Mark also issued a statement addressing this suspension from the Green Party. He said: “I genuinely thought the Green Party was supposed to be different, and was promising a beacon of hope in the dark, ugly world of British party politics.
“We must not be unafraid to say what establishment politics has disallowed: that Zionism is racism, that opposing a fascistic, apartheid state is not racism, it is not antisemitic, it is not conflating all Jewish people with the Netanyahu regime – and that standing with the oppressed should never be something to suspend someone for.”
