Lorraine Kelly discusses fears of ‘career ending’ as she learns ‘very valuable lesson’

Television legend Lorraine Kelly was left fearing for her future as she learnt a “valuable lesson” early on in her career.

, 64, has been a feature on screens for over 40 years now. But a decade into her career, when on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter Rosie, she feared for her future after being axed from GMTV.The star says show bosses broke the news by calling her and saying they have “got someone else”. It left Lorraine wondering how she would pay her and raise her newborn, reports

Speaking to the Show podcast by Sheer Luxe, Lorraine recalled those tense moments: “I used to I did, you know what it’s like, being a freelancer, you’re living from contract-to-contract and when Rosie was really small, in fact, when she was born, they phoned me up a week before and said ‘look, we’ve got someone else’.”

Despite the initial dread, fortune smiled upon her as she was invited to take part in a mother and baby segment on breakfast television, which, despite her inner hesitation, proved to be the correct step forward and led to her securing her own show by January.

She added: “So that was really scary because we had a , we had a baby, we had all these things and I thought ‘what am I going to do’ but as luck would have it, I did get asked to do a mother and baby slot on breakfast television and I thought well, you know, all of your instincts are going ‘I’m not going to do that you rotters’.”

Looking back, she sees this moment as pivotal, acknowledging: “But actually, it was the right thing to do. And from that I got my own show in January. It was a sliding door moment but it taught me a very valuable lesson, which was you cannot rely on this crazy world.

“They might want to change the cushions in the studio or they might want to change the presenter. So I’ve never taken it for granted and I’ve got to the stage now, [that] of course it’s going to end at some point, everything does, but if it did now, then it would be okay.”

After initially being let go from GMTV, Lorraine was invited back to present the mother and baby segment just five months later. She then went on to host Nine O’Clock Live, which gained immense popularity and was eventually renamed Lorraine Live.

She has also made appearances on popular shows like , Good Morning Britain, and the former ITV morning show Daybreak. Since 2010, she has been the face of her own show, Lorraine.

This year, her remarkable career was acknowledged with the prestigious BAFTA Special Award, with judges praising her as an “unstoppable and impressive” force in daytime television. Lorraine also welcomed a new addition to her family this year, as her daughter Rosie gave birth to a baby girl named Billie, making Lorraine a grandmother.

In a recent interview with Platinum magazine, Lorraine shared: “Obviously, Billie is the biggest thing to happen, but I’ve also been celebrating 40 years on TV, so there’s been a lot of wee celebrations, it’s been lovely.

“While I’m looking forward to Christmas, I’m also looking forward to New Year’s Eve because it’s a great time to look ahead but also look back on the year you’ve had.”