Loose Women forced to apologise after Janet Street Porter makes shock remark live on air

Coleen Nolan had to apologise to Loose Women viewers on Tuesday after Janet Street Porter called fellow panellist, Andrea McLean, a "slut" during a heated debate.

The loose ladies were discussing whether it is ever acceptable to eat crisps in the cinema when the awkward blunder occurred.

Janet, 73, branded Andrea, 50, "common" after she said she enjoyed waiting until the quiet bit in a film to enjoy some noisy food.

Andrea jokingly replied, "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," to which Janet pointedly said, "You're a slut, Andrea."

While the other panellists burst into laughter, it was clear Andrea didn't hear what was said and the show went to an advert break.

When it returned Coleen was forced to make an official apology. "Before you got any further Andrea, I have to apologise for anyone offended by Janet," she said.

Confused, Andrea added, "I couldn't apologise for it as I didn’t even know what she said."

Viewers felt 'uncomfortable'

The awkward exchange didn't go unnoticed on Twitter with viewers branding Janet's language "unacceptable" for a daytime TV show.

One person tweeted, "Oh my god. This kind of language is really unacceptable to use especially when #LooseWomen is a live show and I reckon there’s gonna be loads of complaints coming through. Mark my words."

Another said, "Janet street porter should be sacked ,using words like that to another presenter, I think she had had her day."

A third added, "Omg did Janet just call Andrea a s**t on live TV? I felt really uncomfortable. Andrea is lovely."

Mental health matters

The "uncomfortable" exchange comes just weeks after the Loose Women ladies welcomed Linda Robson back to the show following a year-long hiatus, in which she opened up about her battle with anxiety, depression and OCD.

Discussing the secret "meltdown" that sparked her break from the show, Linda, 61, said, "I came off the wine, and I used to take a tablet to help me sleep every night. When I came off the wine, I upped the tablet, and then I got concerned about taking it.

“So I went to see somebody about it and they gave me a tablet – I won’t mention the name but I had a really, really bad reaction to it, a proper meltdown. I got really bad anxiety, really bad depression, and my OCD kicked into overdrive.”

While some people "joke" about OCD, Linda said it totally took over her life. "At one point I was having four baths a day, I was washing my bedding every day."