Loose Women's Sherrie Hewson quits live on air

Sherrie Hewson broke down in tears as she announced she was leaving ITV's Loose Women after 14 years on the show.

The Benidorm actress prompted emotional response from her fellow panellists when she made the announcement.

"Loose Women is in my DNA," Hewson, 65, said.

"I have a thing that goes right through my body that says Loose Women, like a rock in Blackpool, and so it will never, ever leave me."

She added: "On my seat, I've told everything. I've said everything....

"I've told as much as I'm sure you will want to hear. So I'm going to be leaving Loose Women because it's kind of time... I've said everything there is.

"I'm leaving this seat so somebody else now can sit on this seat for 14 years and tell all their stories."

But, she added, "like Arnold Schwarzenegger said, 'I'll be back'."

Co-host Andrea McLean (left) was emotional when Sherrie Hewson (right) said she was leaving the show. Credit: ITV

Hewson said that she would "never forget" the support she had received from her co-presenters, helping her through the collapse of her marriage, bankruptcy and a period of stress which caused her hair to fall out.

An emotional Andrea McLean said: "You were so brilliant to me when my marriage was ending... you were the one that gave me the strength to leave."

Hewson's last day on the show will be September 5.