The formidable Loose Women team has three new recruits! Lisa Riley, Martine McCutcheon and Stacey Solomon have all been announced as full-time panellists. The trio have each made regular appearances as guest stars on the ITV show, and have proved such a hit that they have now been offered the job on a permanent basis.
"It's a new season on Loose Women! Welcome to our Loose Family," read a message on the show's official Twitter account, to which Martine replied saying it was "great to be on board".
Sherrie Hewson made her final appearance on the show on Monday
Stacey, meanwhile, tweeted: "So proud to be a part of the @looseowmen family! Here's to more laughs and surprises! Yaaaaaaay!!"
The announcement came just a few hours before longtime panellist Sherrie Hewson made her final appearance on the show on Monday.
Martine McCutcheon will be a full-time panellist on the show
There were tears all round as she said goodbye to the daytime TV programme after 14 years working on the panel. "Thank you because it has been absolutely amazing. Thank you for supporting me - you mean the world," she said, addressing the camera.
Her Loose Women co-stars also surprised her with gifts, including her very own Ken doll which she described as "the perfect man, as he can't talk back!", and revealed that they had sponsored a disability dog in Sherrie's name.
Lisa Riley will be joining Martine and Stacey as a panellist
Sherrie revealed she was leaving Loose Women in early August with an emotional on-air announcement. "Loose Women in in my DNA," she said. "I have a thing that goes right through my body that says Loose Women, like a rock in Blackpool, and so it will never, ever leave me."
Stacey Solomon has said she is 'very proud to be part of the Loose Women family'
She added: "On my seat, I've told everything. I've said everything… I've told as much as I'm sure you will want to hear. So I'm going to be leaving Loose Women because it's kind of time… I've said everything there is. I'm leaving this seat so somebody else now can sit here for 14 years and tell all their stories."