Penny Lancaster has pushed back on suggestions that Loose Women is riven by backstage feuds, saying the panel’s disagreements are part of what makes the ITV daytime show work. The 55-year-old returned to the programme last week after its recent hiatus and said the conversations can be sharp without turning personal.

Speaking to a magazine, Lancaster said the show is better for disagreement. “We have disagreements on Loose Women but it’s healthy,” she said, adding that “the beauty of it is our differing opinions about everything - it makes the show interesting.” She said the panel does not fall out over those clashes and that they “respect that we have different opinions and agree to disagree.”

Her comments land as reports continue to circulate about tension among some of the women away from the cameras. Showbiz agent Melanie Blake has alleged she had evidence from a WhatsApp group in which certain panellists made disparaging remarks about colleagues, adding fuel to a row that has lingered around the long-running daytime fixture. Lancaster did not address Blake’s claim directly, but her remarks were aimed squarely at the idea that disagreement on the panel means a feud.

Other Loose Women regulars have also sought to cool the story. Denise Welch said in a previous interview that “just because we disagree, doesn’t mean we’re in a feud, which drives me mad,” and added that in 23 years she has never had an argument with anybody on the show. Judi Love said the women have “built genuine friendships,” while Coleen Nolan said there are “no screaming matches behind the scenes” and described the panel as often splitting between a core beginning-of-the-week group and a core end-of-the-week group.

That matters because Loose Women is built on frank debate. The show, which airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV and ITVX, regularly puts its panellists at odds on air because of the subjects it covers. Lancaster also praised colleagues for supporting her through the menopause, a reminder that the same group now defending its off-camera chemistry is the one viewers see arguing on live television.

For now, the message from the panel is clear: the disagreements are real, but they are not breaking the team apart. The friction is part of the format, and the women closest to it are saying the same thing in different ways — they can clash on camera and still leave the studio as colleagues.