Veteran broadcaster Kaye Adams is taking an unexpected leave from her role at BBC Radio Scotland amid allegations of workplace bullying. Despite this shake-up, her position as the lead panelist on the popular show Loose Women remains secure for now.

Adams, who earns a substantial salary of £155,000 annually from her radio duties, has been temporarily removed from the airwaves pending an investigation into the claims. This break raises questions about her future on the Loose Women panel, where she has been a staple since the show’s debut in 1999.

At 62, Adams is a well-known figure on the ITV program, which draws parallels to the American show The View. She juggles her role on the rotating panel with her radio career. However, should the investigation substantiate the bullying allegations, her television gig might also be at risk.

Loose Women itself is navigating turbulent times, with recent budget cuts reducing its broadcast frequency from five days a week to just 30 weeks a year starting in January. This reduction is expected to lead to significant job losses across the board.

Now featuring among a rotational list of anchors, one that enables her to balance her radio commitments with the daytime show, the presenter’s high profile TV job may well come under scrutiny should evidence of bullying emerge from the BBC investigation. 

The show has already been blindsided by a series of cuts that will see its five episode a week placement reduced to just 30 weeks a year from january – resulting in dozens of job cuts. 

As Kaye Adams begins an abrupt period absence from the BBC airwaves she can surely content herself with the reassuring knowledge that her long-term role as Loose Women ‘s head panellist is safe – at least for the time being 

Adams’ removal from air has become the talk of the BBC’s Pacific Quay (above) in Glasgow 

Breakfast show Lorraine’s run time has also been slashed from an hour to 30 minutes, while ITV will also axe more than 220 jobs – nearly half its daytime TV staff. 

It’s a worrying time for all involved, and the controversy that appears to surround Adams during her BBC suspension will no doubt be cause for concern among her ITV employers. 

On top of all the other cuts coming in January, the beleaguered Loose Women will also have another vital part of their show axed.

MailOnline revealed earlier this year that the series will scrap its live studio audience in  a further blow to panellists including Ruth Langsford, Nadia Sawalha, and Charlene White, who rely on audience reactions to create atmosphere.

Bosses have removed the studio audience to save on costs, with insiders revealing that it’s an expensive feature due to being managed by an external company, who also provides security and a warm-up person, but for the presenters, it’s going to be a ‘disaster.’

Meanwhile, Adams is awaiting the results of an inquiry into complaints from junior BBC colleagues that she ‘shouted and screamed’ at them. 

It is believed the complaints were raised under the BBC’s Call It Out scheme to address bad behaviour in the workplace – an initiative set up in the aftermath of the scandal over former MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode.

BBC Scotland refused to comment on the allegations against former Strictly contestant Adams but confirmed she had not left the organisation permanently.

The veteran presenter has been removed from her BBC Radio Scotland show – a role that earns her a healthy £155,000 per-year salary – following unsavoury allegations that she bullied her co-workers

A spokesman added: ‘We would not comment on any individual case. If any complaints or concerns are raised we have robust internal processes in place to manage these.’

One senior BBC source told The Mail on Sunday Ms Adams is not expected back on air for at least two weeks while the investigation continues.

After we contacted Adams, her spokesman said ‘no complaints had been presented to her by the BBC’.

He added: ‘Further, she has worked for BBC Radio Scotland for more than 15 years and in that time has never had any issue raised about her.’

The presenter occupies the 9:00am to midday slot several days a week with a show called Mornings With Kaye Adams, but has not been on air since October 6.

Sources confirmed she was asked to attend a meeting with the station’s new head of audio, Victoria Easton Riley, on October 8.

While she remains on leave until an investigation is carried out, inevitable questions must now be asked about her role on the increasingly precarious Loose Women panel

Adams has been a regular feature on the ITV show, a British equivalent to US daytime juggernaut The View , since its initial inception in 1999 

A BBC source said: ‘The meeting did not go well and Kaye stormed out. She hasn’t been back since and she’s not been on air.’

HR officials have already started interviewing staff about the allegations.

Another senior BBC Scotland source said: ‘Kaye has been taken off air, she’s gone.

‘There have been complaints about her behaviour, and they’ve removed her while they investigate it. It’s being talked about all over Pacific Quay [BBC Scotland’s headquarters].

‘After the Gregg Wallace fiasco, they’re now getting much tougher on complaints about the talent and are starting to take these things seriously.’

Wallace was sacked after 45 allegations of misconduct against him spanning 19 years were upheld. 

They included one incident of unwelcome physical contact, three complaints of being in a state of undress and others involving inappropriate sexual, culturally insensitive or racist comments.

He was sacked along with co-host John Torode, who was found to have used an extremely offensive racist term.

Meanwhile, Adams is awaiting the results of an inquiry into complaints from junior BBC colleagues that she ‘shouted and screamed’ at them 

A BBC Radio Scotland source said: ‘The Call It Out campaign is everywhere now and that’s what has prompted people to come forward about Kaye.’

Adams also hosts an independently produced podcast called How To Be 60 but previously admitted lying about her age – knocking a full decade off the real figure – before coming clean.

Last year she won a ten-year battle with HMRC over a £124,000 tax bill, after courts found she was right to be classed as a freelance worker when she hosted the BBC Radio Scotland programme from 2013 to 2017. 

During that case it was revealed she was paid £155,000 to present at least 160 programmes for the broadcaster.

Adams supports a number of charities including the Beatson Cancer charity; Kindred, which helps parents of children with complex needs; and family support charity Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire.

She lives in Glasgow with her partner, tennis coach Ian Campbell. The couple have two daughters.

She has been replaced on air by Connie McLaughlin.

A source said Adams had yet to inform ITV of the allegations and the BBC investigation.