Lorraine Kelly celebrates 30 years

Our columnist takes time to reflect but she’s far from finished.

As the queen of breakfast television, Lorraine Kelly has had more early rises than the rest of us have had, well, breakfasts.

Remarkably, this month marks 30 years of the fresh-faced Sunday Post columnist greeting us with a smile each morning.

The past 25 of those years have seen Lorraine appearing live from the ITV studios in London but she was only meant to be there for a week!

“It was when I was covering the Lockerbie bombing that I was asked to go to London to present the 6am to 7am ‘news hour’”, Lorraine explained.

“That was in January 1989 and I was only supposed to be down south for a week, so I just packed enough underwear for seven days! I ended up staying for the next 25 years.”

After starting her career straight from school at her local paper, Lorraine worked at BBC Scotland as a researcher before joining breakfast TV in 1984.

“I was the Scottish correspondent for TVam and I was primarily there to report on big news events. But I also covered sport, politics, human interest and those quirky stories for the ‘and finally’ section.”

The names that have graced Lorraine’s famous couch are a who’s who of celebrity. Many are memorable, but not all for the right reasons.

“Most guests I talk to are a delight,” she smiled. “The big stars want to promote their movie and no one is better than George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Will Smith and the utterly gorgeous Hugh Jackman at making the interview a funny, enjoyable experience.

“They see it as part of their job and just want everyone to have a good time. On the other hand you do come across actors and actresses who either through boredom or arrogance can make life difficult.

“Robert Downey Jnr once made us all wait for almost two hours in a hotel because the room was too hot for him.

“Michael Winner walked out of the studio when I asked him how he was feeling because ‘he didn’t want to answer any personal questions’, and Bruce Willis can deliberate for ages when you ask him a question only to come out with about two words that don’t make any sense.”

Her new career in London got off to a good start.

“On my very first day, the special guest was the legendary Bette Davis, who was promoting her autobiography.

“She was a tiny bird-like figure who had battled a stroke and breast cancer, but she was as sharp as a tack.

“You aren’t allowed to smoke in TV studios, but Bette constantly had a fag in her mouth and everyone was too scared to ask her to put it out!”

Lorraine continued: “When I presented TVam with the late, great Mike Morris, we interviewed some real legends of stage and screen.

“Kirk Douglas laughed delightedly at me for calling his novel ‘very naughty’, and Tony Curtis asked me what part of Ireland I was from. I also had the chance to talk to Lauren Bacall, Sammy Davis Jnr and Peter Ustinov.

“I remember being sent to Paris to interview Bette Midler and spending most of the time answering her questions about Scotland, as she really wanted to visit with her family. I was delighted to discover a few months later that she was photographed on holiday in Inverness.”

While Lorraine might be best known for interviewing Hollywood’s A-listers, she’s also reported on the major news events of the past three decades.

As well as Lockerbie, she covered Dunblane and the Gulf Wars, and interviewed prime ministers and heads of state.

“I’ve been incredibly lucky to be at the heart of some of the most momentous stories of the past three decades, including Friday’s historic referendum result where I was broadcasting from Dundee’s McManus Galleries.”

The Zumba enthusiast splits her time between London and Dundee, where she lives with husband Steve Smith.

“I feel I have the best of both worlds, living in London during the week and in Dundee at weekends. I’ve always divided my time between London and Scotland, apart from when Rosie was born and we lived in Cookham in Berkshire.

“When she was 11 and due to start secondary school we moved back to Dundee.”

In addition to the momentous events she’s covered and the legends she’s interviewed, Lorraine has also enjoyed some incredible experiences over the past 30 years.

“I was taken up in a Tornado jet by the amazing team based at RAF Leuchars in Fife, which was the fulfilment of a childhood dream,” she recalled.

“I was voted rector of Dundee University and made honorary colonel of the Black Watch Cadets.

“I also received the OBE from the Queen in 2002 at Holyrood Palace, which was unbelievably nerve-racking.

“I don’t remember a thing Her Majesty said to me because I was crying with emotion. All of these things would never have happened if I wasn’t doing my show on TV.”

And Lorraine has no intention of giving up the early morning rises anytime soon.

“I really love what I do and it’s been a real joy to be in people’s living rooms, kitchens and even their bedrooms early in the morning for the past three decades.

“The past 30 years have flown by and I just hope I can keep on doing the best job in the world for many more years to come.”

Lorraine says there’s no such thing as a typical day for her, but it does usually begin with her getting out of bed at 4.45am, when most of us are still fast asleep.

“I have a shower and put on my comfy clothes and head for the studio,” she explains.

“We have a meeting about what stories to cover in our newspaper review and go through the entire show, working out where the interviews will happen and how long they will last.

“I do my homework the night before, reading as much as I can about each guest.

“I don’t write down questions as you need to listen to the interviewee and go with the flow, but I jot down a few bullet points.

“I’m very lucky to have my hair and make-up done, and I go through my scripts and make notes.

“I pop down to the green room and say hello to my guests and then I do a ‘trail’ with Ben and Susannah from Good Morning Britain, to let everyone know what’s coming up on the show.

“We’re on air from 8.30am to 9.30am. We have a debrief about that morning’s show and it’s then straight into a planning meeting for the next day.

“I can usually get away by 1pm. I often have to go and see a movie screening, which is a real perk of the job, and I catch up with viewers’ letters and emails.”