Rishma Dosani

Denise Welch has announced that she is leaving ITV's Loose Women after approximately 25 years on and off, having first joined in 2005 and returned in 2018 after a seven-year break. She said she is stepping down to concentrate on acting, which she described as her first love and strongest talent, while thanking viewers and colleagues for their support. Welch said she would remain friends with the programme's panellists, and her husband Lincoln Townley publicly backed her decision.