Loose Women panellist and Maltesers ambassador Judi Love says that while older women can be written off, with age comes wisdom and acceptance. And she learned it all from her mum
As a Loose Women panelist, Judi Love tackles the big issues facing women, from parenting and safety to period poverty, alongside her equally outspoken co-hosts. The ITV show has been running since 1999, and Judi, 45, has revealed to the Mirror that the secret to its success is having a diverse age range, from 66-year-old Ruth Langsford and 79-year-old Janet Street Porter, 79, to 36-year-old Stacey Solomon and Kaye Adams, who is 63. “People love Loose Women because it’s like a village. Nothing is off the table, and all ages are represented,” says Judi, who first appeared on the show in 2020. Older women are often written off in our society – but they’re the ones with the wisdom.”
A recent survey has revealed ageism is rife in the UK. The charity Age UK polled 1300 older adults, and found that 51% had experienced ageism. As a result, respondents said their emotional wellbeing was affected, with 37% feeling devalued and almost a quarter feeling disempowered. Over 60% said that they did not have the confidence to speak out about ageism.
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Liz Drury, CEO of Age UK London said “Our findings show there is a clear need for action. Despite age being protected against discrimination in law, the reality is vastly different. There is a consistent pattern showing that ageism is widespread and normalised, it affects emotional wellbeing and self-perception, which are crucial to people’s quality of life.”
Judi says ageing is a gift that should be celebrated. She told the Mirror, “I love sitting around women who have lived life a little bit longer than me, there’s so much I can learn from them. I’m so grateful they can share their wisdom with me. I am older and wiser than I was. But I look forward to being even older, with more knowledge, and I can share things that I know will help.”
With age has also come acceptance, says Judi, a popular stand-up comedian and host of ITV’s Judi Love’s Culinary Cruise. “In time, as you get older, you learn to appreciate your body,” says Judi. “I appreciate it for what it’s done – I have two amazing children, I’m able to exercise. It takes me to the place I love to work, I can make people laugh. I’m really appreciative of that. I love everything about it because it allows me to do the things I love to do.”
A single mum, Judi has a 21-year-old daughter and a son aged 16. She lives in Hackney, East London, and has previously admitted it’s been tough at times raising her children solo, saying: “When you are a single mum, especially with boys, there’s also a level of sternness from my culture that I feel has to be in place. You’re not just fighting them on attitude; you’re fighting the internet, grooming, and gangs.”
But she’s always had support from the women in her life, from her family and friends to those on Loose Women. She says: “I love having women around me, I’ve grown up around amazing women, I work with amazing women, I learn so much from women – both older and younger too, young people do things a lot differently to how we do them.”
Judi is the face of a new campaign from Maltesers, which highlights the silent solidarity found between women. New data from the brand, polling 2000 UK women, found that 68% of women can tell what another woman is thinking just by looking at her, 89% use an unspoken “Sisterhood Code” to communicate and support each other and 50% have experienced this connection even with complete strangers.
Judi says: “When I used to go out with my kids and they’d be crying, a woman would always give me a look as if to say, ‘It’s ok – we’ve all been there’. It’s women you don’t know as much as women you do. There’s a silent acknowledgement. It brightens your day. Someone else will look out for you. We’ve all had those mistakes where your dress is tucked into your knickers. Or there’s toilet paper on your shoe. Yes there have been hard times raising my kids as a single mum, but I stay focused on the positives. It takes a village – but I have always had a village.”
She learned how to parent by watching her own mother, whom she lost to dementia in 2009. She says: “My mum taught me to be dedicated, hard working, to show a lot of love, to help your community. To show love with food, live with kindness, to be nurturing.”
Judi makes sure her home is open not just for her own children but for their friends too. “I make sure my home is a safe space where they can all come round and they can just chill,” she says. “There’s always a pot of food in the house for the kids. My mum would always make sure there was a pot of food for us as kids too.”
She worries about the world her children are growing up into, especially with regards to social media. Last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Mirror restrictions for under-16’s were on the way. He said: “I’ve been clear that something must be done, and it’s not a question of whether we will act, but how.” And Judi says: “Social media, the internet, is such a big thing at the moment and takes up so much of a young person’s time. They can watch it at home, at school, at friends houses, while out and about. It’s really trying to get into that space of how do we support them to use it safely. It’s about building trust with your kids, and helping them to navigate it.
“Young people are still young, their minds are still developing. Their emotional maturity isn’t there yet. I’ve always made sure I’m the person they can come and talk to about anything that is worrying them.” It’s a very different world to the one she grew up in, says Judi, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.
“I am so grateful that we didn’t have social media. We got to play out, make mistakes, experience things, learn things, and have fun without distraction. The other day I was driving and I saw these two teenagers, sitting on the floor on their jackets with an ice cream, just chatting and laughing and it brought back this nostalgia – that’s what it used to be like. They didn’t have their phone in their hand.”
Judi developed a funny bone early on, born to Jamaican parents in Hackney. She says: “I was a funny kid, bubbly, I made a lot of people laugh. I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of being joyful. They’d laugh, I’d laugh, and we’d have a good time.”
In 2024, her one woman show saw her become the first black female comedian to sell out the London Palladium. And there has never been a better time for women in comedy, she says. “There are so many more female comedians in 2026 and we’re so much more empowered now to speak about things that we are concerned with, and that we want to talk about. It’s a good feeling,” says Judi, who participated in Amazon hit Last One Laughing, alongside fellow comics Richard Ayoade, Daisy May Cooper and the show’s winner, Bob Mortimer.
“It really made me appreciate laughter, and joy,” says Judi. “Bob was the most dangerous, he was gentle with it, you didn’t ever see it coming. He knocked us out bit by bit. A comedy assassin.”
*To find out more about the Sisterhood Code and see the short film from Maltesers with Angela Scanlon and Judi Love, see HERE
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