Saira Khan has claimed she quit ITV’s Loose Women after bosses “asked her to join Only Fans”.
The presenter, who got her start as a contestant on The Apprentice, was a regular panelist on the show for five years before leaving at the beginning of 2021.
ITV has vehemently denied Khan’s claims. In a statement shared with Mail Online, the brodcaster said: “We strongly refute all of these claims. Duty of care is of paramount importance for all of our panellists. Saira left the Loose Women panel almost two years ago and we wish her well.”
In a lengthy post to Instagram, Khan claimed she “politely” left the daytime show after she was allegedly approached with what she described as a “disgusting and offensive request” to join Only Fans.
In a separate interview with The Mirror, Khan claimed a producer had asked her to make an account on the platform so that she could “go undercover to see the kind of response you get from men” and that “it would make a great story”.
Khan said she wanted to share her claims as she believes she has a “duty of care” and wants to ensure women in the media are cared for, respected “and not treated like PR fodder”.
She clarified that her comments were not directed at any of the panelists who worked alongside her on the show.
“I have been asked so many times by people, ‘why did you leave?’ I have never publicly given a reason - because if you do it comes across bitter and angry,” Khan wrote on Instagram.
“It’s been two years since I’ve left the show, and I feel I have a duty to speak out to ensure that other women are not put in the same negative situations I experienced.
“Whenever you speak out against a huge corporation and expose some of their questionable working practices, they get their lawyers on the case to deliver blanket statements and get their talent to say, ‘well I’m not sure what she’s talking about, because it’s not what I’ve experienced’. I’m expecting this.”
The Independent has approached ITV for comment.
Adding that she does not wish for Loose Women to be “cancelled”, or for any harm towards her fellow panelists, Khan went on to claim: “But ask yourself, why would I decide after five years to suddenly leave a show that was paying well?
“I do want the editorial team and management team at ITV to know that their culture needs to change from the top down, and that the ask for me to join Only Fans was a disgusting and offensive request that insulted me to my core.
“If it was a serious investigative piece, why was I not sat down in an office with the editor to discuss it? I left the show politely. It’s what you do. I did my formal ‘thank yous’ and ‘goodbyes’.”
Khan added: “I have no reason to lie or make up stories. I know I will never be asked to work at ITV again – that’s fine.
“But I do have a moral obligation to make sure that other women who work either in this show or on others are treated and supported in a way that protects them, their families and their mental health.”
