18 July 2023 , 11:32
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Saira Khan has no regrets over leaving Loose Women and branding the ITV show toxic.
The TV personality, 53, says she wanted to represent Asian women during her time on the daytime programme but was told "what to represent and what to say".
Saira also touches on "what's happened [at ITV]" since her Loose Women exit in 2020 – declaring: "I don't want to be part of that."
The mum-of-two, who rose to fame as a contestant on the first series of The Apprentice in 2005, was a regular panelist on the ITV talk show from 2015 until her departure three years ago.
Saira Khan says life away from the ITV show has been 'liberating'Speaking to the Mirror last year, Saira revealed the real reason she quit the show – claiming bosses tried to make her join soft porn site OnlyFans as a PR stunt. The former Celebrity Big Brother star told how the "shocking" request was the final straw in what she alleges was a string of desperate bids to get publicity for the ITV programme as ratings slipped.
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Reflecting further this week on her sudden exit from the show, Saira says: "With Loose Women, I wanted to share my story and be that representation of an Asian woman, but I didn't like to be told how to be, what to represent and what to say. It's not just Loose Women, it's anything in TV – you're directed and edited – and I was sick of that life."
The star, who shares kids Zachariah, 15, and Amara, 12, with husband Steve, continues to describe her TV exit as liberating and reveals many of her fans and social media followers have noted how she seems so much happier and relatable these days now she doesn't have to put on a persona for TV.
"On Loose Women you saw me being quite passionate, heated and feisty. But that's the silo they put me in. I wanted to have a bit of fun, but that wasn't for me, that was for Stacey Solomon. Stacey was the fun one, but I had to be the loud, gobby one," Saira tells Closer magazine, adding how Stacey is her favourite panelist currently still on the show's line-up.
Stacey is Saira's favourite Loose Women panelist (Shutterstock)Saira then muses how she doesn't need to be in environments which she doesn't have to be in, after working hard all her life – adding how while she enjoyed her time on the show but it doesn't define her. The star also admits her mum's blood cancer diagnosis has shifted her perspective on her career.
She tells the publication how witnessing her mum go through cancer has made her stop to think about times she goes to work feeling uncomfortable – recalling times her words were twisted to "cause a fury for a show" and resulted in her returning home in tears.
"I've come home crying, to make money. What the f*** is that about?" Saira adds, "I think you just have a gut feeling and I'm very connected to myself. Since I've left, look what's happened [at ITV ]- I don't want to be part of that."
Last year, following Saira's claim Loose Women bosses wanted her to sign up to OnlyFans, a spokesperson from ITV said: "We strongly refute all of these claims. Duty of care is of paramount importance for all of our panellists. Saira left the panel almost two years ago and we wish her well."
A source added: "Loose Women Investigates is a strand which has seen reports into a range of topics. Sites such as OnlyFans could always potentially be the subject of an investigation. The Body Stories campaign tackled the taboo of vagina dysmorphia back in 2017. Saira was not involved in this campaign.
"We were told Saira was leaving to focus on her ‘businesses and online’ and that ‘she has nothing but good things to say about the show'. We are therefore surprised to hear these claims."