Lorraine Kelly seemingly addressed the future of her ITV show following major schedule cuts, insisting she has no plans to bow out after four decades on air.
The daytime host, 65, was speaking publicly for the first time since ITV confirmed her show would be reduced to 30-minute episodes and limited to just 30 weeks of the year, with Good Morning Britain set to replace her slot for the remaining 22.
Appearing on Tom Kerridge’s Proper Tasty podcast, the veteran broadcaster appeared to push back on speculation about a possible axing and said she’s still got plenty more to give.
Reflecting on her four-decade-long career, she said: “I’ve been doing telly for over 40 years. It’s mad isn’t it? It’s absolutely crazy. I started in breakfast telly in 1984, and I’m still getting away with it. Extraordinarily.”
Referring to the career milestone she marked last year, she added: “40 years in TV last year was incredible. I got a BAFTA. ‘Here’s a BAFTA for being alive.’ I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, I’m not done yet’.”
Kelly also said she feels more confident than ever when it comes to saying what she really thinks, especially outside her ITV slot.
“I think now I can be a lot cheekier. Because I’ve always been a bit naughty,” she said. “Not so much in the morning, but if I do a wee show on Channel 4, or The Last Leg, or something like that. You can be unleashed. And I quite like that.
“You do have to have a self-edit button, and I’m finding mine is not operating as much as it should,” she added with a laugh. “So when I’m sitting there and I look at something and I think, ‘Gosh, what an absolute k**b that person is’... I say it and I don’t realise I’ve said it. So I have to watch.”
Despite her long-running success, Kelly admitted she still gets nervous presenting live.
“I remember being so scared about doing a piece to camera and just being unbelievably nervous. And that doesn’t go away for a long time,” she said. “It doesn’t ever completely go away, I don’t think. I don’t think it should.”
Her comments come after it was reported that Kelly was given an opportunity by ITV to merge her show with Good Morning Britain, which she declined.
The broadcaster was given the option to present the last 30 minutes of Good Morning Britain by ITV bosses, before the channel’s budget cuts were announced, according to the MailOnline.
But sources have told the website the presenter was “insulted” by the offer, which led to her show being cut by half an hour.
The outlet reported that bosses were hoping the merger would have been an “easy fix”, as there was a similar format during the pandemic.
They add that the host was prepared to quit, but agreed to helm the programme until the end of next year.
