Lorraine Kelly has broken her silence on ITV‘s decision to brutally slash her daytime show, insisting that despite the ‘heartbreaking’ cuts, she won’t be quitting her programme anytime soon.
The TV presenter, 65, saw her titular morning show facing the brunt of the cuts announced in May, with Good Morning Britain now taking her 9-10am slot for 22 weeks of the year.
For the remaining 30 weeks of the year, will present five days a week, meaning her Friday stand-in presenters Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard are no longer needed for the show.
While the show’s running time has also been slashed in half, now airing for just 30 minutes from 9:30am to 10am.
In the months since ITV’s announcement was made, speculation has run rife that Lorraine will walk away from the show.
However, speaking out on the cuts for the first time in five months, the Scottish star vowed to remain on the show for as long as possible, ‘until people get fed up’.
Lorraine Kelly has broken her silence on ITV’s decision to slash her daytime show, insisting that despite the ‘heartbreaking’ cuts, she wasn’t going to quit anytime soon (seen Feb)
Speaking out on the cuts for the first time in five months, the Scottish star, 65, vowed to remain on the show for as long as possible, ‘until people get fed up’ (seen in July)
She told The Mirror she’d had an ‘inkling’ that there would be changes coming, but that the show had been ‘trying really hard’ to make up for the lack of budget by ‘punching way above our weight for the quality of guests that we get on’.
Admitting she had been ‘angry’ over the decision, Lorraine insisted that her ire was on behalf of her team, who saw their jobs also slashed.
Reports previously suggested that out of ITV’s daytime staff of around 450 employees, up to 220 jobs are at risk.
She claimed she had been ‘fine’ with the news that her shows would be shorter and on less frequently, as her main priority had been to ‘save as many jobs as possible’.
While she said many of those who lost their jobs have since been assigned to other programmes, Lorraine confessed it had been ‘heartbreaking’ to lose team members that she’d ‘grown up with’ and worked alongside for more than 20 years.
She said: ‘It’s been difficult with the cuts, it’s been hard. I’m a lot happier about it now but it was honestly and genuinely all about the team. I wasn’t annoyed or angry about this for me… it was about the team.’
But despite her heartbreak over the changes – and a number of predictions that she is set to quit for good next year – she insisted that the cuts have not convinced her to retire.
Citing the likes of Loose Women panellists Janet Street Porter and Gloria Hunniford as ‘astonishing women who are just getting into their stride in their 70s and 80s’, Lorraine insisted that she would be following in their stead.
Admitting she had been ‘angry’ over the decision, Lorraine insisted that her ire was on behalf of her team, who saw their jobs also slashed
In answer to the reports that she will be making her exit when her year-long contract comes to an end, she denied: ‘Absolutely not. I am going to be toddling off that show in my Zimmer frame and even then, I’ll be coming in.
‘I don’t see me going anywhere until people get fed up, you know? Until people say, I’ve had enough of that one.’
Daily Mail previously revealed Lorraine was given the chance by ITV bosses to merge her daytime show with GMB to present the last 30 minutes of their broadcast, but she declined.
She had been pulled into a meeting prior to the channel’s budget cuts announcement where she was offered the new proposal, which was considered an ‘easy fix’ after the same format was adopted during the pandemic.
But sources revealed that she was ‘insulted’ by the suggestion and told bigwigs it wasn’t a possibility, resulting in the reduced runtime of her show from an hour to 30 minutes.
Daily Mail understood that Lorraine, who has presented her show for the past 14 years, was prepared to ‘walk away’ but agreed to continue hosting the series until the end of 2026.
A new role titled ‘Head of Lorraine’ was created to oversee the changes, but the contract is only for a 12-month period.
It was previously reported that staff are fearing Lorraine may decide to throw in the towel after the cuts were announced, with a source telling The Mirror: ‘There are genuine fears among staff that Lorraine may decide to walk if the quality of the show they are putting out declines.
Citing the likes of Loose Women panellists Janet Street Porter and Gloria Hunniford (seen) as ‘astonishing women who are just getting into their stride in their 70s and 80s’, Lorraine insisted that she would be following in their stead
‘It’s hard to see how standards won’t fall….and there are questions over whether Lorraine will want to be associated with that. Lorraine and her team are perfectionists – it’s why the show is loved by so many.’
Changing viewing habits, including an increased reliance on streaming services, have forced ITV to make some difficult decisions in a bid to remain profitable and keep some of the UK’s most beloved shows on air.
Meanwhile ITV’s big-hitting daytime shows will soon be moving to a new shared studio space.
Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will relocate in January to the basement studio of London’s The H Club Studio, a former private members’ club in Covent Garden.
Almost 900 hours of live daily programming a year will be produced at the new studio, which features a 360-degree set with LED walls to project the backgrounds for the different shows.
Instead of separate spaces, the three series, which air back-to-back on weekdays on ITV, will use one gallery, with a quick turn around plan of the space between shows.
The space, which is across two floors, will also be open to other ITV shows outside of the daytime schedule.
Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will relocate in January to the basement studio of London’s The H Club Studio, a former private members’ club in Covent Garden (seen)
Managing Director at ITV Studios Daytime Emma Gormley said: ‘As we work towards more cutting edge and efficient ways to produce Daytime shows in 2026.
‘This move to The H Club studio offers state of the art technology that we can use across our programmes to create shows that are distinctive – with a look and feel that are familiar to and loved by our viewers.
‘In a time of transformation for the entire industry, I want to thank all our Daytime teams for their dedication and skill in producing high-quality, compelling live shows every day throughout this period.’
The move was announced as part of a wider shake-up to the ITV schedule, which will see Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women produced by one team.
