Lorraine Kelly recalls being left in a ‘state of shock’ when she was told she had been replaced on GMTV while still on maternity leave.
Speaking to SAGA, Lorraine, 66, called that period in her life ‘scary’ because her family had a ‘huge mortgage’ at the time.
The television host has been announced as the new host of Saga’s podcast Experience is everything, in which she interviews famous names who share their life lessons. Lorraine takes over from the late Dame Jenni Murray.
To celebrate her new role, Lorraine spoke to Susie Dent, who hosts the podcast in the meantime, to tell her own life story.
Speaking about how she was replaced at GMTV while on maternity leave, she said: “I was working at GMTV at the time and believe it or not, it was unusual at the time to see someone pregnant on television.
Lorraine Kelly recalls being left in a ‘state of shock’ when told she had been replaced on GMTV while still on maternity leave
Speaking to SAGA, Lorraine, 66, called that time in her life ‘scary’ because her family had a ‘huge mortgage’ at the time
“Anne Diamond had been the pioneer because she had her sons and was pregnant on air, and she got a lot of support for that. And I got a little bit of that, but because social media wasn’t there, it barely registered, so you didn’t really know.
‘But Rosie came in June and I was due back to work in September. Crazy. You would have two months off. Now it would be impossible.
‘But I just got a call a few weeks before and they said, “Sorry, we’ve got someone else. Thank you very much, but we’ve got someone else. So thanks for all your work. See you later.”
‘That’s it. I was actually a bit in shock. It was scary because we had a huge mortgage.”
She continued, “We just moved south. It was hard and I didn’t expect it. That’s why I think I’ve never taken anything for granted, because I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Lorraine said she made ends meet by doing a lot of writing, including writing a column for a parenting magazine.
A few months later, GMTV got in touch again and said, ‘Look, we’ve got a mother-and-baby slot and the sponsors want you.’
She did it with Doctor Hillary Jones and then got her own show in January because it had done so well.
Lorraine also spoke about her family, saying she and her husband Steve had decided to prepare for their daughter Rosie’s wedding this year.
Lorraine said the Lockerbie tragedy got her noticed on television.
‘It was very difficult to hide it [an unknown Lorriane was one of the first journalists on the scene after Pan Am flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988] but imagine living it.
‘Imagine what it is like for the people. What it did teach me is that kind of confidence. You know, people trusted me with their stories, then and now.
“That’s something I’ve never taken for granted. I always think that when people who are going through the worst experience of their lives come on the show to talk about it, they should walk away feeling like they’ve done themselves proud.
‘Or when they talk about someone who has passed away, that they have made that person proud. So I never take it for granted that people trust me with that, because that’s huge.
“But my job is to make sure they leave feeling like they’ve done themselves proud. I think that’s very important.’
Lorraine said she headed every news bulletin and many on TV, and strangely enough this gave her a big break.
She said: ‘The then boss of TVAM looked at the screen and said, ‘Bring that little girl from Scotland and we’ll see how she goes on the news hour. Let her do it from 6 to 7.’
‘So I came over for a week. To be honest, I only had a week’s worth of underwear. And I never actually went back. I mean, I went home every weekend, you know, I commuted for years, up and down, up and down.
‘I never returned to my job as a correspondent, which I really enjoyed. And I didn’t really want to, I had never even thought about sitting on a pink couch and I just found myself there.
‘And maybe that’s why I’ve lasted so long. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great job, I had a great time, it’s been over 40 years, it’s been great, but at the end of the day it’s just a job.”
During the interview, Lorraine also discussed the cuts at ITV.
She said, “Last one This year we found out that there are a lot of cutbacks in daytime activities and every show is affected by this, every show, especially my show, because instead of running all year round, it now runs 30 weeks a year and has obviously been reduced from an hour to half an hour.
‘So every morning we try to get a pint into a half-pint jar, which is a challenge, but somehow we manage.
“What was the hardest for me – it doesn’t matter if my fat face is on TV for an hour or half an hour, it really doesn’t matter – was saying Cheerio to my team because obviously there have been a lot of redundancies and that was very, very difficult because I know them all.
‘Many of them have been working with me since childhood. Now they have children of their own and that was really difficult. It really was. So coming back in January was difficult, but then it puts everything into perspective because my father died and he wasn’t in the best of health.”
Lorraine also spoke about her family, saying she and her husband Steve had decided to prepare for their daughter Rosie’s wedding this year.
She said: ‘In March/April my husband tried on his kilt and lo and behold the buckle wouldn’t buckle. And I don’t weigh myself, I don’t have a scale, but I thought to myself, “I should be a size 10 or 11. I’m kind of looking forward to maybe being a size 16.”
‘So we both decided that we would go to the gym twice a week, especially for the over 60s. And it’s fantastic. It’s all about building muscle strength and balance.
‘My husband no longer gives me huge portions because he cooks himself, but he gives me huge portions. Of course I’m greedy, so I eat them.
‘So we scaled that back and cut out a chocolate plate, because every night when we watched the telly we had a cup of tea.
“And it started as maybe half a bar of chocolate or a cookie. And I can’t open a pack of cookies and just have one. Who can open a bag of sweets and take just one? No, that’s not right. So we stopped doing that completely.’
She also stopped drinking alcohol.
Lorraine said: ‘I’ve stopped drinking. And I’m not a big drinker. But I just stopped. And don’t get me wrong, I of course drank a glass of champagne at the wedding. Naturally.
‘But I just take much better care of myself. I take supplements. I go to the gym, I go swimming, I go for a walk with the dog. It has become more important.’
