LOOSE Women's controversial panelist Carol McGiffin has spoken of her dismay at the contractual wrangling which could see a huge show shake-up.
Carol, 63 - who didn't hold back in slamming Loose Women after her own exit - is adamant her talented former co-star, Janet Street Porter, 77, will be "following me out the door."
She has now pleaded for an "arrangement" to be reached with ITV.
It came after we reported how Loose Women stalwart Janet was embroiled in a furious row with bosses "over contracts."
The documents would change her status from freelance to employee for ITV's new PAYE-only contracts policy, which comes in response to HMRC's off-payroll working rules.
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Carol, who faced the same situation last year, said the debacle made her "sad."
Writing in her Best column, she penned: "It’s apparently the same issue that I had with them last year.
"The problem is partly down to HMRC, who appear to be hell-bent on obliterating the self-employed so they change the rules constantly and put the frighteners on companies so they force freelancers onto the payroll.
"Which would be fine, in fact I was ready to go along with it until I realised that although I’d pay the same tax and NI as the employed, I wouldn’t get the benefits – sick pay, holiday pay, pension contributions, etc.
"Not only that, signing it meant limiting other work, and in my case anyway, without any guarantee of work from ITV!
"As I said at the time, no one in their right mind would have signed that contract."
Predicting a clap-back, she added: "Before you say, 'Oh she just doesn’t want to pay her taxes like everyone else' that’s total nonsense.
"Yes, it’s true the tax can be lower than that of the employed but for the reasons above, it should be.
"I’m pretty sure – if their issues are the same as mine – ITV won’t back back down."
She added this would mean "intelligent" panelist Janet "will follow me out the door."
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Janet has been a regular panelist on the show since 2011.
Carol added: "For the sake of the viewers, I sincerely hope that doesn’t happen and they manage to negotiate some form of acceptable deal."
Carol stepped back from Loose Women last May.
We reported her gripe around a "totally unjust" contract dispute at the time.
She explained her hiatus from the talk-show series, which saw her switch the small screen for exotic holidays in Thailand.
Carol, who had been a firm fixture on the show since 2000, said: "The problem was, ITV were insisting, for the first time since I went back in 2018, that if I wanted to carry on doing the show, I would have to sign a contract that was totally unjust and unworkable for me, so I had to say no thanks.
"And I know it looks like I've thrown my toys out of the pram, but the whole saga was affecting my health."
HMRC officials previously claimed Kaye Adams, another Loose Women star, owed thousands in unpaid taxes.
The Sun told this month how TV presenter Kaye, 61, finally won her 10-year tax dispute after HMRC conceded defeat in her case.
