She left viewers stunned when she made a sudden exit from Loose Women after five years as a panellist, branding the show “toxic” and admitting she had to “tolerate” some of her co-stars. And, two years on from her departure, Saira Khan admits she has no regrets over leaving.
Saira, 53 tells Closer, “With Loose Women, I wanted to share my story and be that representation of an Asian woman, but I didn’t like to be told how to be, what to represent and what to say. It’s not just Loose Women, it’s anything in TV – you’re directed and edited – and I was sick of that life.”
The star, who found fame on The Apprentice in 2005 and shares, Zachariah, 15, and Amara, 12, with husband Steve, says her departure has been liberating because she’s finally able to be herself. In fact, Saira, whose fellow panellists included show favourite Stacey Solomon, reveals she felt she had to adopt a persona.
Speaking at the The MaiLi MyPower event, she says, “A lot of my social media followers say, ‘My god, you’re so much happier, so much more relatable’, because I couldn’t be who I wanted to be on TV. On Loose Women you saw me being quite passionate, heated and feisty. But that’s the silo they put me in. I wanted to have a bit of fun, but that wasn’t for me, that was for Stacey Solomon. Stacey was the fun one, but I had to be the loud, gobby one.”
She adds, “I don’t need to be in environments which I don’t have to be in. I’ve worked hard all my life. I did the show and I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t define me.”
Meanwhile, Saira has been vocal about her heartbreak over her mum’s blood cancer diagnosis last year, admitting she felt as though she’d been “punched” when she heard the news. She says her mum’s ill health has shifted her perspective and made her reflect on her career. “When you see your mum and your friends go through cancer, it makes you stop and go, ‘What am I doing? Why am I going to work feeling uncomfortable. The words I’ve used have been twisted, and been used to cause a fury for a show’. I’ve come home crying, to make money. What the f*** is that about?”
She adds, “I think you just have a gut feeling and I’m very connected to myself. Since I’ve left, look what’s happened [at ITV] – I don’t want to be part of that.”
And while she’s just relaunched her organic skincare range, under the name Saira, the star admits she’s only looking ahead.
“The whole message of being a powerful woman for me is done through my skincare range now, which is giving me power,” she says. “I want to be defined as a very successful British Asian businesswoman and that’s what I’m working on. I want other girls to have more role models, and say, ‘Well if she can do it, I can do it!’”
● Saira spoke to Closer at the aesthetics brand MaiLi My Power campaign launch. The results of MaiLi’s global survey found that society tries to ‘take down’ powerful women. Sixty-one per cent of women have received abuse or negative comments in person or online, and their campaign aims to shine a spotlight on this judgement. For more info visit maili.com.