Lorraine Kelly opened up about being axed from her show in the 90s (Image: ITV)
spoke candidly about her early career struggles in a new interview. The longstanding presenter, 65, detailed the stress she underwent after being fired and replaced by Anthea Turner two weeks before she was due to return from maternity leave in 1994.
The on-screen host, who has fronted her self-titled ITV daytime show for over two decades, revealed she has not lost the insecurity of being a freelancer and has always tried to have something else to fall back on if things were to go awry, whether it be radio, newspaper columns or novels.
Her career as a journalist began in 1983 when she joined Scotland as a researcher, and a year later worked as a correspondent on Scotland’s TV-am. She went on to co-host GMTV alongside Eamonn Holmes when it launched in 1993.
“Rosie was teeny-tiny. We’d just moved south, we had a , and it was scary to have that peeled away from you. I wasn’t a member of staff,” she told the . “I didn’t have any rights. I didn’t get maternity pay. I’d like to think we’re a bit more enlightened these days, and that wouldn’t happen.”
Lorraine Kelly has been hosting her self-titled show since 2010 (Image: Getty)
Lorraine had an unlikely saviour in Cow & Gate – the processed baby milk manufacturer who agreed to sponsor a slot on GMTV but only if she presented.
This led to the broadcaster landing her own show, Lorraine Live, and in 2010 she began presenting her current ITV programme.
She has since become a household name having been on TV screens for the past 40 years and was presented with a special BAFTA award last year.
Lorraine, who shares her 30-year-old daughter Rosie with her husband Steve Smith, has no plans of slowing down.
She presents her signature show just four days a week and her latest novel, The Island Swimmer is set to be released on March 13.
Quizzed on whether she views herself as a sex symbol, she laughed: “Hahhaha! By whom?” but there is one title she did ponder on.
“Novelist of the year? No! I couldn’t possibly!”
The new grandmother is delighted to still be working, as she remarked, “I love this stage of my life. Especially with the wee one.”