Sign up to FREE email alerts from Mirror - celebs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Loose Women viewers have seen many panellists come and go over the years but the daytime show’s newest signing is a world first.

For we can reveal India Willoughby will become the first transwoman in the world to co-host an all-female talk show.

The presenter, 51, is set to become a household name and it’s clear she’s still pinching herself to make sure it’s not a dream.

“I just can’t believe it,” says India. “I absolutely love the show so it’s beyond my wildest dreams to be a guest panellist.

“My history will add something different to the mix and it’s the perfect fit for me.

"All the Loose Women have overcome some sort of adversity, they all carry battle scars and that’s what makes them interesting people. Mine just happens to be my body.

“I didn’t want to be considered a novelty. I’ve turned down several TV offers. I want to be working on merit and that’s why it was so perfect for me, because I’m just a girl next door.

“If I can help others in my situation by becoming a panellist, well that’s terrific.”

(Image: North News & Pictures ltd)

Just six months ago India’s fortunes were very different. She was on the dole, convinced her career in television was over after transitioning to become a woman two years before.

“I was signing on, picking up £67 a week,” she says. “I thought I would never, ever get near a proper telly job again. I thought my career was over.”

India grew up in Cumbria and lived as Jonathan for the first 50 years of her life. But she realised she was in the wrong body from a very young age.

“Around four or five was the first inkling I didn’t fit my skin,” she admits. “And then a year or so later the penny dropped.

“I decided I was trapped in this body and just had to make the best of it.”

Then she read about trans icon Caroline Cossey who transitioned to become a woman in the 1970s and went on to star as a Bond girl in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.

India says: “It changed my life knowing it was possible, but I just wasn’t brave enough back then to start the journey.

“So I went on to do everything a young lad would do. I immersed myself in sport, I had girlfriends, with the emphasis on friends. I just carried on through life.”

India kept her feelings a secret and forged a successful career as a regional newsreader. She married in her late thirties and had a son, who is “the centre of my universe”.

(Image: Rex)

But in 2010 the presenter was live on air when she had a moment of realisation that brought her to her lowest ebb.

“I was doing a live interview when I caught sight of myself in one of the monitors,” India says.

“I was nice and smart in my suit but I knew I couldn’t go on because that person wasn’t me.

“I went home in tears, absolutely distraught. I bought myself a bottle of wine and drank it.

“At the end of that night I thought I was going to do myself in. I thought I would rather have a clean death to keep my secret a secret.

"Fortunately for me I’m a terrible drinker and I fell asleep, which in a way might have saved my life.”

India woke up and realised she couldn’t do it to her loved ones. But she also realised she couldn’t carry on as Jonathan.

So the presenter resigned from ITV and secured a job in PR as a woman, without anyone knowing her past. Incredibly, for five years she then led a double life.

“I came up with this crazy plan of splitting my life in two,” she recalls. “For five days a week I lived and worked in Newcastle without anyone knowing.

"Then I would go back to my home town for the weekend and live as the old me. I would conjure Jonathan up again but he was very much like a ghost. It was like strapping myself back into a straight jacket and playing this role.

“Towards the end it was becoming a real mental strain, remembering what I said to who and when.

"It got to the point where it was four weeks before my surgery and I knew I had to tell everybody.”

India spoke to members of her family individually and face-to-face, saying “it was my last act as a man”.

She was understandably most worried about the reaction of her mother and her son.

“The one thing that I couldn’t have been handled would have been losing him as a consequence,” she says. “But thankfully that didn’t happen for me.

“He was brought up not to have any prejudice and that’s how he’s turned out. He’s a very bright kid who wants to be a doctor.”

India’s mother struggled more with the news.

“She wasn’t angry but she definitely went through a grieving process because she was losing a son,” says India. “The realisation that you’re not going to see that person anymore is a big shock.

“I reassured her that the essence of me was going to be the same. I still have the same memories and the same characteristics and now we’re closer than ever.”

Touchingly, the presenter’s mum chose her new name.

“I said to her: ‘I’m your child and you named me once so I want you to name me again’,” India explains.

“She liked that, had a bit of a chuckle and came back with the name India.

“I was so relieved. What if she’d wanted Ethel? And it truly feels like my name now.”

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Fears of a backlash against her family were the reason India removed herself from the spotlight to make her transition.

She describes undergoing the £14,000 full gender reassignment surgery in Brighton last October as a “burden lifted” but it also left her signing on at the job centre this summer.

“I signed on in June and July and it was horrible,” she adds. “Really degrading. You go in and you’re treated like a number.”

India soon began to want her career back. “I realised being trans is no reason not to be in the television industry,” she says.

“So I started doing volunteer jobs at community TV and radio stations.”

Incredibly she got a job back with ITV Border in Cumbria, the original station where she’d spent 10 years as Jonathan.

“I was terrified walking through the door but everyone was very friendly and warm.

"They were obviously curious about what had happened but it just felt very natural and I soon became part of the family again. Then I joined ITV Tyne Tees and that’s where I’ve been since September.”

India appeared as a guest on Loose Women last month and sharing her astonishing story received an incredibly positive reaction from fans – and show bosses.

“It was overwhelming really,” India smiles, “but I never thought it would lead to becoming a presenter on the show.”

And despite insisting she is incredibly ordinary, India is already helping other people in her situation.

(Image: ITV)

“I was in Newcastle last week and a lady came over and said she was watching Loose Women with her son and he said: ‘That’s what I want to be, that’s how I feel, I’m trans’. She wanted advice on what to do. If I can help people that’s terrific.”

India’s unique perspective means she knows just how women are treated differently to men in the workplace, citing a time she was asked to make coffee and clear up, something that had never happened to Jonathan.

On the other hand, India is loving dating as a woman. She jokingly calls herself the “Bridget Jones of trans” because she works in television and is worried about ending up alone – but like Bridget, she is having a blast.

“As the old me I never even looked at a guy,” she admits.

“But isn’t it great on this side of the fence? I get chatted up and I’ve been on a couple of dates. I would very much like to meet Mr Right but is he out there? Who knows. I do like Olly Murs – I’m looking for somebody with a bit of swagger.”

India is very much keen to look forward, not back, and her only regret is not transitioning sooner.

“I really do wish I had the courage to speak up when I was younger,” she says. “But now that I’ve done it, life begins at 50 for me. I’ve got a whole lot of living to do and I can’t wait to get on with it.”