Janet Street-Porter said goodbye – temporarily – to Loose Women on Wednesday, revealing that she will be leaving the show to "concentrate on my health". The TV presenter told the panel and audience that she is going to be having a knee replacement, something she has kept putting off, and that she was slightly nervous about the impending procedure. "It's largely worn out because I have spent my life walking, keeping fit," Janet said. "I've only ever had a serious operation once when I broke my leg climbing and I drove myself to hospital. I'm nervous." The star then asked everyone to reassure her that she will be back running around soon. "Can people watching please reassure me that I will be playing tennis again soon," she asked.
The 71-year-old is renowned for being confident and opinionated and is never afraid to speak her mind, and this was the second time in recent months that viewers have seen a more vulnerable side to her. In April, Janet confessed that she suffers from anxiety, and has to control it by writing down her worries.
Janet Street-Porter is leaving Loose Women for the next couple of weeks
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The star opened up about her feelings during a candid chat with Stacey Solomon – who was talking about her own experiences with mental health. Janet told the panel: "I get things out, especially at night, I get things out of all proportion and have a re-run of things in my head. Then I have to write it down, and when I read it in the morning it looks stupid," she said. Stacey then admitted that she was surprised that someone "so cool" as Janet would ever worry. "I look up to you and aspire to you, and I never thought that someone who seems so cool, calm and collected would ever experience anxiety," the 28-year-old revealed.
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The TV personality then went on to reveal that she had even suffered a panic attack just days earlier after worrying that a comment she made about Linda Robson had been taken out of context. Janet had joked about the Birds of a Feather star wearing a swimsuit, but was left worried that people thought she had been too horrible to her friend.
