Lorraine Kelly has reflected on the harsh feedback she once received early in her career, before going on to front her own self-titled show. The ITV host, now 66, revealed she was left 'crushed' when a boss told her she would never succeed on television.
Early Career Struggles
In a new interview, Lorraine described how she began her career by bombarding the BBC with applications. 'I just bombarded the BBC. They must have got fed up with me. I applied for a job in Aberdeen as their farming correspondent, I wouldn't even know one end of a cow from the other, I mean I had no idea,' she said.
In 1983, she secured a role as a researcher for BBC Scotland. Although she loved the job, her dream was to become a reporter. 'What I wanted to be was a reporter, but it wasn't to be sadly,' she told Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2's Tracks of My Years.
The Crushing Setback
Lorraine recalled being called into the office by the 'big giant boss' at BBC Scotland, expecting a promotion. Instead, she was given a harsh assessment of her future. 'I thought, 'Oh this is my big chance' and he told me I would never make it in television because of my accent and that was BBC Scotland. Because I've got a Glasgow accent, he said, 'You have to go elocution lessons', I mean, as you can imagine I was really crushed.'
'It was back in the day when nobody spoke like me, you wouldn't have people speaking like me on the tele,' she added.
A Swift U-Turn
On the same day, Lorraine went for a role as a reporter on TV-am in 1984 and successfully bagged the job. She stayed in this role until 1993 before helping launch GMTV. The following year, she went on maternity leave and discovered her contract had not been renewed. However, she returned that November to front a mother-and-baby segment, which led to her hosting Nine O'Clock Live, later rebranded as Lorraine Live.
Before launching her successful self-titled ITV programme, Lorraine also presented GMTV and Daybreak. Earlier this year, her show was reduced from an hour to 30 minutes on a seasonal basis.
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX.
