Exclusive:Vanessa Feltz on coming up against This Morning and Loose Women with new Channel 5 show

Vanessa will premiere on the newly-rebranded Channel 5 on Monday afternoon, and Vanessa herself is hoping that the format will bring viewers some much needed respite from the world around us.

In an exclusive chat with NationalWorld.com on behalf of Heart Bingo, the TV and radio legend opened up about her hopes for the new show and coming up against her This Morning and Loose Women pals in her new daytime slot.

Vanessa, 63, has said that the new show will be like a chat between friends. “There’s no news agenda, no politics, it’s not that kind of thing,” she explained.

“It’s going to be relationships, and parenting, dating, infidelity, how you get on with your in-laws, whether the naughty step is out of fashion, how you should dress on a date - all the sort of good stuff that we really think about and chat about to our real friends in our real life rather than a news agenda where you sort of have to stick to a discussion about something that you may not really care much about.”

While she covers the pressing news matter of the day on her Sunday LBC show, she describes ‘Vanessa’ as a “nice oasis away from the news”, adding: “There’s no politics or anything horrible like that because most politics these days is really horrible.”

Although Vanessa will be a change from her LBC show, Vanessa is still hoping that she’ll be able to bring her radio experience to the screen.

“I can talk about anything I like. And if that’s something that viewers are concerned about, or that’s dear to them, or that’s worrying them, then I can take it in any direction.

“That’s what you do on the radio, and for the first time I think I’m going to be able to do that on TV. So that’s quite a new thing really, that freedom to just go with whatever you want to talk about and not necessarily dictate to the viewers.”

Vanessa, who previously fronted her own chat shows in the mid to late 90s, has described her return to hosting the daytime chat shot as “exciting”. Her new slot in the Channel 5 lineup will see her join the ranks of daytime strongholds This Morning and Loose Women.

Vanessa announced last week that she would be stepping back from her contributing role on This Morning to focus on her new standalone show. But there’s no rivalry between herself and her showbiz pals.

“I love This Morning, I was on it until last week from 1992! I’m a willing viewer as well as participant, I’ve always liked it. I liked it before I was ever even on television. I would’ve happily stayed on it. If I could’ve done both shows I would’ve done. You know me, I love a good few jobs!”

In terms of coming up directly against Loose Women in the new time slot, Vanessa added: “Lots of the Loose Women are my actual friends. Ruth Langsford is one of my best friends, Linda Robson is a very close friend of mine, Myleene is a very good pal of mine. I’m very friendly with loads of them, I’ve known them for years, and years, and years. I don’t feel as though I’m a rival or anything like that.

“I just think it’s a nice big cake, we can slice it in many different ways and I hope that on some days viewers will be thinking ‘Oh let's hear what Vanessa is doing’. If they like the look of it they will stick around. There’s plenty of viewers to go around, that’s what I’m hoping.”

At the age of 63, Vanessa shows no signs of slowing down. Alongside her television and radio work, she also posts regularly to her YouTube channel. Vanessa’s latest series on her channel is a humorous spin on Meghan Markle’s Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan. As for her inspiration in creating ‘With Love, Vanessa’, she said that she “doesn’t really think much about Meghan”.

“I saw the show and I just felt that instead of commenting on it, I’ll just make my own. And it’s gone incredibly well! I think 250,000 people have watched episode one, almost as many who watched Meghan’s! And mine didn’t cost £80m either, mines cost nothing at all. I just used whatever I happened to have lying around in the kitchen, picked a couple of daffodils from the garden and that’s it.”

With Love, Vanessa has already racked up thousands of views and more episodes are being filmed - so how does Vanessa plan on juggling her online success with the new chat show?

“Get up earlier, go to bed later. Think faster, work harder, the usual stuff. The stuff I think I’m always doing anyway!”

‘Vanessa’ premieres at 12.30pm on Monday, March 24 on Channel 5. Episodes will air every weekday in the same time slot.