TV star Lorraine Kelly has signed up with Channel 4 to front a travel programme, just weeks after it was announced her ITV breakfast show faces severe cuts.
Lorraine, 65, who has been a stalwart of ITV since 1984, flew to Norway last month for the secret project and is said to "relish" broadening her horizons.
Her major deal with Channel 4 follows swinging cuts by ITV to her eponymous show, which was reduced from year-round hour-long episodes to just 30 weeks of 30 minutes.
Other cost-saving measures saw the production role of Head of Lorraine axed by ITV, The Sun on Sunday reports.
A source said: “Channel 4 were delighted to have Lorraine on board. It was exciting for Lorraine to do something different and be on location again.
“Despite the apparent slight in the ITV daytime shake-up, Lorraine’s loyal fanbase isn’t to be underestimated and they will follow her wherever she goes.
"She’s survived in this business a long time and she’s a master at rolling with the punches."
Lorraine already has a strong relationship with Channel 4, and regularly appears as a guest on comedy panel show The Last Leg.
In an interview with TV chef Tom Kerridge on his podcast Proper Tasty, Lorraine said: “Forty 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’.
“I think now I can be a lot cheekier.
“I’ve always been a bit naughty. 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. I quite like that.”
Crew on Lorraine's ITV show are said to have been left feeling "gutted" by the cuts to the "successful rating-busting" programme, and her two producers now report to This Morning bosses.
The source added that the shake-up "casts further doubt" on the future of her ITV show when her contract expires next year.
"She’s opening her eyes up to the many options available to her,” they said.
