Loose Women's Charlene White has said that she "understands" why co-star Carol McGiffin has left the show.
Presenter and TV personality Carol, 63, left fans wondering where she was as she hadn't appeared on the ITV programme in recent weeks.
After much speculation, the Loose Women star finally broke her silence explaining she had been forced to "step away" from the show.
Carol claims she was being asked to sign a contract which was "totally unjust and unworkable for me".
She has even gone as far to say she no longer watches the show and as it has become too "woke" for her.
Charlene, who regularly appears on the show, says she will miss Carol "hugely" after they had "so much fun" together.
"I understand her reason for leaving - we are all individuals and all see things in our own individual way," she told The Sun.
“It's a huge shame, the show will really miss her and as a group we’ll really miss her, she’s our colleague and we’ve worked with her for a really long time."
While speaking to GB News host Dan Wootton, Carol said: "Well put it this way, reading all the comments from the article at the weekend there are a lot of people who think the programme has gone very, very woke."
Dan replied: "I feel that as a viewer. I don’t watch any more." Carol then admitted: "Well, neither do I. The whole of mainstream media is very, very woke."
"You just don’t have to keep forcing this stuff down peoples’ throats, it’s not just ITV, the BBC is probably worse actually – and saying that, Channel 4 is probably the worst out of all of them. It’s not a place where I feel I fit in," she added.
She added of ITV: "They come back and say we support free speech but I can't see it, I can't really see it – from where I'm sitting anyway."
Carol then suggested: "I'm not sure whether or not that was the reason I was given the contract I was given."
It has also been alleged that an interview Carol gave to TNT talk radio prompted the disagreement with ITV due to comments she made.
She suggested that news organisations had been ‘brainwashing’ the public over the risks of Covid in order to spark widespread mental health breakdowns.
An ITV spokesperson previously told The Mirror: "Any theories around Covid discussed by Carol on a platform outside of ITV would be her personal opinions, have not been broadcast as part of Loose Women and do not represent the views of ITV.
"Here at ITV we encourage free speech, but equally are fully committed to responsible broadcasting and adhering to the OfCom code.
"ITV will not comment on speculation around individual contracts. We understand that Carol has decided to leave Loose Women and we wish her well in any future projects."
Carol told James Freeman’s The Freeman Report: "I always look back at when I started working in television and radio as the good old days because they were much less policed, I suppose. Much less restricted and it was a freer place to be.
"When I look back at the old Loose Womens I used to do from 2000 all the until I left in 2013, they're completely different. There is so much offence. People take so much offence at so much and they never used to."
