Gloria Hunniford has insisted Danny Baker, who she said she has known for years, isn't a racist "deep down".
The radio DJ, 61, was fired from BBC Radio 5 Live after a tweet he made that was dubbed racist.
The now-deleted tweet saw him compare newborn royal baby Archie Harrison to a chimpanzee.
He subsequently faced a furious backlash online and was subsequently sacked from the BBC.
Speaking on Loose Women about the controversy and his recent grovelling apology, Gloria said: "I was completely shocked and quite disgusted by the picture. But I want to say that I've known Danny for 30 years.
Danny Baker finally apologises for racist tweet - 'it was one of the worst days of my life'
"Deep down, I don't think he is a racist man, I think this was a shocking case of bad judgement."
However she said that she knew that if she said certain curse words during Loose Women that she would be sacked, saying: "So it was right that he was sacked.
"But I thought his excuses were a bit pathetic because he actually said in his excuse he didn't know about the baby and Meghan and Harry. I kind of thought, what kind of a broadcaster, and you're broadcasting regularly - we read the news, we listen regularly, we have to know for our job.
"I just felt that when he tried to make it right, I think the apology was very weak and I thought the excuse was very weak."
Meanwhile Saira Khan said that she was "deeply, deeply disappointed" with the radio DJ.
"To be so ignorant working in this industry, it's inexcusable," Saira said. "I think that his career could be ended. [People like this] are being caught out now and rightly so."
*Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV
