Lorraine Kelly admits she is ‘upset’ by the ‘seismic’ modifications to her daytime present after ITV cuts

Lorraine Kelly has admitted she is ‘upset’ by the ‘seismic’ cuts to her daytime ITV show. 

The TV presenter, 65, has seen her long-running morning programme hit by major changes announced in May, with Good Morning Britain now taking over her 9–10am slot for 22 weeks of the year.

For the remaining 30 weeks, Lorraine will front the show five days a week – meaning her regular Friday stand-ins, Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard, will no longer be needed.

The show’s running time has also been slashed in half, and will now air for just 30 minutes, from 9.30am to 10am.

Speaking about the shake-up on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Lorraine confessed she was deeply saddened by the decision.

She said: ‘I was disappointed, of course I was. This is the world that we live in now.

Lorraine Kelly has admitted she is ‘upset’ by the ‘seismic’ cuts to her daytime ITV show (pictured this month)

The TV presenter, 65, has seen her long-running morning programme hit by major changes announced in May, with Good Morning Britain now taking over her 9–10am slot for 22 weeks of the year (pictured in July)

‘Things have to change, I mean, I’ve been through so many regime changes in my life.

‘For me, this is just another one, but it’s seismic. The thing that has upset me the most is the fact that we’ve got this great team, and obviously, that’s not going to be in place next year because jobs will go. 

‘Hopefully I’ll be able to hang on to some of these amazing people – that’s my aim. It’s very, very sad. It really is.’ 

Earlier this year, Lorraine 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.

For the remaining 30 weeks, Lorraine will front the show five days a week – meaning her regular Friday stand-ins, Ranvir Singh (pictured last month) and Christine Lampard, will no longer be needed

Speaking about the shake-up on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Lorraine confessed she was deeply saddened by the decision (pictured last month)

She said: ‘I was disappointed, of course I was. This is the world that we live in now. Things have to change, I mean, I’ve been through so many regime changes in my life. For me, this is just another one, but it’s seismic’ (pictured 2023)

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 several 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. 

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.