LOOSE Women and Lorraine’s return can finally be confirmed as fans feared for the ITV daytime shows amid cuts.
Both morning favourites had been taken off air as part of plans to air them “seasonally”.
Recent updates had suggested the chat shows would return in April but viewers had raised concerns the month is almost over and they’d yet to appear on TV schedules.
The Sun can reveal that Loose Women will return from its spring break on April 27 at 1.30pm, whilst Lorraine is back the following week on May 4 from 9.30am.
Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan, Nadia Sawalah and Jane Moore will be the first women back on the panel.
The shake-up to the daytime schedule came amid swingeing cuts across ITV, with Loose Women and Lorraine now airing “seasonally”, some 30 weeks of the year, losing more than 100 of their episodes.
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Good Morning Britain was extended during the hiatus, with This Morning starting at 10am as usual.
The schedule shift began in January and also meant Lorraine Kelly’s eponymous show was reduced from one hour to 30 minutes.
Earlier this year she posted an update online about her first hiatus as part of the change.
She said: “I will be off for a good few weeks… because of changes to the show.
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“I now do 30 weeks a year, so I won’t see you for a wee while, but I want to thank you for sticking with me through all the changes and I hope to see you when I’m back on air.
“I never take it for granted and I really, really appreciate you tuning in. Thanks so, so much.”
A source later told The Sun that the changes at ITV have hit Lorraine hard.
The insider said: “She’s suddenly found herself with a lot more time on her hands, given these extra weeks off the air, and for a workhorse like Lorraine, it’s taken a significant adjustment.
“Since January, she has also been working with a new hubbed production team who work across her show, This Morning and Loose Women, and it’s just not the same as when she had her own dedicated staff, many of whom lost their jobs in the cuts.”
