Denise Welch has opened up about her 25 years on Loose Women, and admitted that there are some panellists she ‘prefers’ – but she’s always happy to welcome new faces.

Popular Loose Women star Denise is never one to hold back on airing her opinions (Image: (Image: ITV))

Denise Welch didn’t hold back as she took a sharp dig at her Loose Women colleagues following an on-screen row with Stacey Solomon.

Despite downplaying any talk of a feud, Denise hinted at underlying friction during her appearance on Olivia Attwood’s podcast ‘So Wrong It’s Right’.

The 66 year-old shared: “I’m always happy to have new blood on (Loose Women) because we do get bored of each other. But I’ve always been sceptical when younger people come in because, sometimes, they may have a great life story but they are either not prepared to talk about it yet, or are too worried about what the public are going to say.”

She then revealed some backstage drama, adding: “So they’ll be in a meeting saying ‘I’m not going to talk about that,’ and it’s kind of like, ‘what are you gonna talk about then?'”

Stacey, who joined the panel in 2016, is among its younger members, alongside Katie Piper and Frankie Bridge. Denise’s remarks follow a heated exchange with the Sort Your Life Out star earlier in the year.

In the contentious June debate, Stacey, 35, championed the cause of people working flexible hours from home post-pandemic, butting heads with Denise who argued that the nation was “grinding to a halt” with workers “disappeared”.

A frustrated Stacey countered: “They don’t disappear because they’re working from home,” leading Denise to press further, questioning: “But, where are they Stace?”

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The mum-of-five elaborated that the pandemic showed a significant portion of the UK workforce might perform an “adequate if not better job” from home, sparking a disagreement with Denise, leaving viewers tense at witnessing their on-air clash. The month following, Denise expounded on the fallout, describing it as exaggerated, reports the Mirror.

“We disagreed on something, it was about young people and work ethic and since Covid, have Gen-Z become a bit more lazy and entitled, it was one of those kind of Loose Women things,” she recalled.

Denise recounted that Stacey said something about nurses and the NHS which provoked a great big reaction, and “I actually agreed with her”. In 2020, Denise faced severe backlash for her anti-vaccine stance and lockdown opposition, causing spats with her Loose Women co-hosts over these contentious opinions.

Despite this, Denise mentioned only a few rifts with colleagues during her quarter-century on the show, alluding to varied relationships with the hosts.

She hinted at complex dynamics while discussing show relationships, saying: “In 25 years, there have obviously been a couple of people who aren’t as close as some of the others. Like in any show, there are some people you prefer, there are some panels I prefer to others. Just because of the dynamics of personalities,” during a podcast in the US this year.