Lorraine Kelly has shared her experience of being told she had been replaced as host of GMTV while she was on maternity leave, an event she described as both shocking and frightening.
Kelly, 66, recounted the incident in a conversation with Susie Dent for Saga's podcast "Experience is Everything." She explained that at the time, it was unusual for pregnant women to be on television, with Anne Diamond being an earlier pioneer who faced criticism. Kelly noted that while she received some negative attention, the lack of social media at the time meant it had less impact.
She was expecting to return to GMTV in September, just three months after her daughter Rosie was born in June. However, a few weeks before her planned return, she received a phone call informing her that the show had hired someone else. "That was it. I was kind of in a state of shock really," Kelly said. "It was scary because we had a massive mortgage."
Following this, Kelly took on various writing roles, including a column for a parenting magazine, to make ends meet. Several months later, GMTV contacted her again, offering her a "mother and baby slot" due to sponsor interest. This led to her co-hosting with Dr. Hillary Jones, and the success of that segment resulted in her getting her own show in January.
Kelly also reflected on how the tragedy of Lockerbie brought her to wider television attention. As one of the first journalists on the scene after Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in December 1988, she covered the event. This experience, she stated, taught her the importance of trust, particularly when people share their most difficult life experiences with her on air. She emphasized that her role is to ensure they feel they have done themselves and the person they are discussing proud.
Her early career also saw her reporting on every news bulletin, which caught the attention of the boss at TVAM. He invited her to London for a trial week, and she ended up staying, commuting for years rather than returning to her correspondent role. Kelly admitted she never envisioned herself hosting a show like GMTV and suggested this unexpected path might be why she has had a lasting career in television.
Kelly also touched upon recent cuts at ITV, which have affected daytime programming, including her own show. Her program, once running year-round, is now on for 30 weeks and has been reduced from an hour to 30 minutes. She described the challenge of fitting content into a shorter timeframe and found the redundancies within her team particularly difficult, as she had known many of them for years.
During the podcast, Kelly also discussed her personal life, including a decision with her husband, Steve, to improve their fitness ahead of their daughter Rosie's wedding. Noticing that her husband’s kilt buckle wouldn't fasten and realizing her own clothing size had increased, they both joined a gym class for people over 60, focusing on building muscle strength and balance. They also adjusted their portion sizes, cut back on sweets, and Kelly stopped drinking alcohol, though she noted she made exceptions for special occasions like her daughter's wedding. She stated that looking after herself better has become more important.