Loose Women's Janet Street-Porter confirms break from ITV show after health update

Janet Street-Porter has announced she's taking a break from Loose Women as she shared a health update during the ITV programme today, Monday 27 October.

The presenter, 78, has been a part of the panel since 2011, but will now be absent from our screens for three weeks.

At the end of the show today, she explained: "Tomorrow, I'm going for a knee replacement, my right knee.

"I've had my left knee done eight or nine years ago, and last October I had my left hip replaced, so the left hand side of my body is virtually bionic, so tomorrow it's the right knee. Honestly, I can't wait."

She added that she's "in a huge amount of pain" and also revealed she's hurt her neck recently.

"I'm going to be off for three weeks. I'm not off forever, I'll be doing all that physio, and I want to say to anyone out there who is contemplating a knee replacement, stick to the exercises, do all that physio, and get up and move around as much as you can."

She added: "The last two weeks have been really chronic," before declaring that she's not nervous, saying: "I want all the painkillers, sleeping pills, bring it on."

"I'll be back soon," she vowed.

This comes after Janet opened up about the debilitating physical pain she endured last year before her hip replacement.

During Loose Women's 25-hour talkathon in December last year, where the panellists appeared in a special 'history-making' event to support ITV's campaign Britain Get Talking, Janet disclosed that she was initially reluctant to have the surgery.

However, she said she could "barely walk" and was a "misery", and even unable to sleep because of the pain.

She recalled hitting "rock bottom" during a "horror" year, saying: "I was so reluctant to have a hip operation. It got to the point where I could barely walk; I'd come in here and be a complete misery and I was not sleeping - I was down to two or three hours a night.

"Somehow having a knee replacement is more acceptable than a hip replacement, in my head anyway, so hip replacement you think 'I've joined the oldies. That's it. I'm in the last tiny bit of my life.' Which is ridiculous."

The I'm A Celebrity star added: "I was absolutely at rock bottom. It was the year of horror - like the Queen called it her annus horribilis. 2024 was that year for me."

Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.