Jane, Sherrie & Carol: "Loose Women's our therapy"

Jane, Sherrie & Carol: "Loose Women's our therapy"
Jane, Sherrie & Carol: "Loose Women's our therapy"

Loose Women stars Jane McDonald, Sherrie Hewson and Carol McGiffin talk to TV Times magazine about their summer of fun... What are you most looking forward to about the summer? Jane: “I’ve traveled extensively so summer fun for me is actually being at home in the privacy of my own backyard, I love it. I’ve got a beautiful garden, a wonderful partner and a very good selection of wine, so I just sit outside and enjoy the balmy nights. I like to read my magazines in the garden too.” Will you be jetting off abroad for a summer holiday? Sherrie: “I’m going to Gran Canaria with my daughter and her children as the nanny!” Carol: “I usually go somewhere in the Mediterranean and this year I’m going to Benidorm – I’ve never been before and I can’t wait!” Are you looking forward to slipping on your sundresses? Carol: “Yeah! I’ve got a summer wardrobe in a drawer so when I go on holiday I literally open it and tip it in the suitcase. I’m on the hunt for some new summer clothes this year though!” Jane: “I dress for my garden, so I put on my wide brim hat…” Carol: “Do you swan around in a kaftan?” Jane: “I do! I love a kaftan because you can drink and eat as much as you like and pull it up if you want to get your legs brown. It is nice, I do like the floaty stuff and I’ve got lots of it.” Loose Women has been on our screens for 13 years now – what’s the secret of your success? Jane: “If we knew that we’d be writing TV shows! It’s just got its own little magic. A lot of people think it’s easy to be a Loose Woman, but it’s not – it’s a dance and you’ve got to learn it. The public sees right through you if you’re not yourself and that’s very important, so you’ve got to be able to tell it as it is. It’s a badge of honour to be a Loose Woman, we’re all very proud.” Sherrie: “It is therapy. A lot of us have been through hard times and we’re all there for each other. That’s what’s nice about it really – it’s a gang of girls and we all know each other really well.” You share so much of your personal lives with your viewers – do people on the street think they know you? Sherrie: “It’s like a soap opera, people get to know you as a character and they like you or they don’t. Often they think that you’re their best friend and they can tell you all sorts of things. But that doesn’t matter, as long as they’re watching and enjoying it.” Jane: “We love our viewers and it’s a great honour to be invited into people’s homes every day, so if people want to have their lunch with you then that’s just great.”

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.