Loose Women suddenly got emotional on Friday when Carol McGiffin began to cry after watching a clip of Jenny from ITV drama Cold Feet, who has been diagnosed with cancer.
The panellist – who was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2014 and has recovered – welled up, saying: “I know exactly how it feels.”
Head panellist Andrea McClean introduced an interview with actress Fay Ripley by playing the clip from the current series.
It showed her character Jenny receiving a cancer diagnosis, and struggling to tell loved ones.
Cutting back to the studio, Carol, 58 – who also lost her sister to cancer – was visibly emotional. Nadia Sawalha reached out to comfort her friend as Fay joined them on the panel.
Crying, Carol told her: “I haven’t seen that yet. And I know exactly how it feels.” She then addressed producers off-camera, saying: “Thanks, you lot!”
Apologising for the tears, she then added: “I never cry on TV,” as Stacey Solomon passed down a box of tissues.
Fay, 52, told her she understood, saying: “We’re tackling something that is in everyone’s lives… Members of my family have cancer, my friends have cancer, the world appears to have cancer.”
Carol admitted: “I knew it was going to be tough to watch, and it is, it is. It’s exactly how it happened. And keeping it a secret as well, I understand that. I didn’t tell anybody, only Mark, that’s it.”
Viewers at home felt for Carol, with one writing: “Sending you a big hug Carol 💞💞💞💞💞💞.”
Another said: “I know exactly how she felt I was diagnosed with the same cancer, it’s horrible. You are a brave lady Carol.”
A third tweeted: “Ohh you don’t normally see Carol show emotion, I felt for her today.❤.”
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Many criticised producers for putting her through it, with one commenting: “@loosewomen I CANNOT believe you’ve just done that to Carol McGiffin. So insensitive.”
Another blasted: “Shame on the producers of #Loosewomen for not letting Carol know they would be showing those clips from Cold Feet. What on earth were they thinking? That was awful for her. 🙁.”
Carol later explained her upset on Twitter, admitting the clips came as a bit of a shock.
Bit of a shock seeing the poignant clips from #ColdFeet with the brilliant @FayRipley talking about Jenny’s storyline. Sometimes, amidst all the great stuff in my life, I forget that I had breast cancer and have so far survived it, hence the rare (public) tears….x @loosewomen
— Carol McGiffin (@McGiff) 15 February 2019
She was comforted by the show, who tweeted back their love for her.
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