ITV employees 'fuming' over lavish 70th anniversary party amid daytime cuts

ITV is marking its 70th anniversary tonight with a big party at London's The Guildhall hosted by Joel Dommett - however, daytime employees were displeased with the celebration going ahead amid brutal staff cuts.

The broadcaster hosted a number of stars at The Guildhall tonight to celebrate 70 years since ITV's first broadcast at that very venue. The Masked Singer's Joel is presenting the evening, showing a film to celebrate the last seven decades of programming on the channel.

However, a source told The Mirror that daytime employees have been vocal about their disapproval of anniversary events going ahead in light of the recent staff cuts. Earlier this year, ITV announced that 220 production staff out of 440 working on daytime programmes will lose their jobs.

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As a result, Lorraine Kelly's ITV show will be cut from an hour to 30 minutes, airing for just 30 weeks a year, while cuts will also be made to Loose Women. From next year, Good Morning Britain will be worked on by a dedicated team at ITV News, while teams on Loose Women, Lorraine and This Morning will merge to save costs.

A source told The Mirror: "Daytime staff aren't impressed that ITV is going ahead with a lavish 70th anniversary party while many are facing redundancy." They added that with staff set to lose their jobs, many find it insulting that ITV has invested in a new entertainment show hosted by Gary Lineker, titled The Box.

"ITV did say that they would be using the money saved from the cuts to produce shows in other areas, but daytime staff can't help but feel slighted - especially after seeing headlines which claim that ITV boss Kevin Lygo is willing to pay a lot to lure Michael McIntyre over from the BBC."

It comes after The Daily Mail reported last month that Lygo is "determined to nick Michael" and will throw "huge amounts" of cash to poach him from the BBC.

ITV declined to comment when approached by The Mirror.

Earlier this week, Loose Women's Sherrie Hewson questioned the decision to reduce the number of the panel show's episodes. Speaking to The Sun, she said that it feels "cruel and sad" to cut back the show.

"For women of all ages, those up to 95 down to younger women at home with young children, it's like therapy to them," she said. ""Some people are lonely and it is a lifeline for them, the only discussion they may actually be part of during the day."

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