Lorraine Kelly's next career move has been revealed following claims that she is set to leave ITV after 43 years on the channel. The 66-year-old morning television host's contract is said to be expiring next year, and she has not signed a new one.
This comes after her show was cut from an hour to just 30 minutes in January, as more than 220 jobs were axed across ITV's daytime programming, including Lorraine, Good Morning Britain, This Morning, and Loose Women. Among those who lost their positions were key members of Lorraine's trusted team, with whom she had worked for years—something she is said to have been appalled by. It is claimed that the show has not been the same since.
New Projects in the Works
Now, the television veteran is reportedly secretly planning her next big project away from ITV for the first time in her four-decade-long career. Two new projects are already said to be in development. The first is a new YouTube show, and it is claimed that Lorraine wants to emulate the success of her friend and former Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan's series Uncensored, which has a global audience of millions.
The second is a podcast with her daughter Rosie, 31, who recently released a book titled Mother to Mother following the birth of her first child, Billie, who will turn two in August. The podcast is thought to be in advanced planning stages and would take the same name as Rosie's book. Lorraine and Rosie would co-host the show, inviting celebrity mothers as guests, according to reports.
Insider Insights
A source told The Sun: "Lorraine is older now, but she is far from retirement—she would just like more time to spend at home with daughter Rosie and granddaughter Billie without the pressure and commitment of travelling to London for just half an hour on screen. Secretly, she would like to take her format and turn it into an online interview format, whether that is a video podcast or a YouTube series, where her fans can tune in whenever they like. One of the other ideas they have, that one of Lorraine's former team is helping with, is that Lorraine joins Rosie for a new podcast called Mother To Mother, after the success of Rosie's book."
The source added: "She would have more viewers if she took her show online and turned it into a podcast—and more money from sponsorship and brand deals. Lorraine's social following is huge, so the audience is already there, too. Anything she does like this will be a huge success. There is no doubt about it."
Advice from Piers Morgan
The source claims that Lorraine has been getting advice from old friend Piers Morgan and hopes to bring her old team back on board, with whom she remains extremely close. The Scotland-based star is also said to love the idea of being her own boss and filming the show herself at home on her own schedule.
The Mirror has approached Lorraine for comment on this story. However, a representative reportedly insisted that she is happy on her current show at ITV. They told The Sun: "Lorraine has no plans to move away from her show, and any podcast activities would be part of a portfolio, as we see with so many other top broadcasters—complementary to her show, which remains her absolute priority."
Lorraine's Career Journey
Lorraine has been on television screens since the 1980s after being snapped up by ITV. After working as a news anchor and becoming one of the launch presenters of GMTV in 1993, she was given her own show. However, she spoke out after being sacked a year later for taking time off to have her daughter, Rosie, in 1994. She said at the time: "It really was frightening. I had this really tiny baby, and I was not sure what was going to happen."
She continued: "Luckily there was a mum and baby company who wanted to do a mum and baby slot. They would not do it unless I did it, so that was a way back, if you like, and it was so successful that they ended up giving me my own show."
Lorraine's flagship show has been running since the 1990s and has survived various formats of ITV's breakfast show. Now known as a national treasure and one of the UK's top television presenters, she is said to earn £13,000 a week and has amassed an estimated net worth of £4 million.
