Lorraine Kelly has been gracing our early morning TV screens for more than 30 years.
Her unique brand of giggly, girl-next-door joviality mixed with a dash of good old-fashioned Scottish plain speaking has won fans – not to mention several TV awards – the length and breadth of the country.
Her support for those who seek to better the lives of others is unceasing and reflected in the raft of charities she is the patron of.
In 2012 she received an OBE for her work with the Help for Heroes charity and the armed forces.
And aside from the honours and TV gongs, Lorraine has also reached a status attained by very few in this country – that of a national treasure.
And this month she steps into the shoes of another ‘NT’ – Dame Judi Dench – to become patron of the 2020 Mole Valley Arts Alive which has been rebranded e-Live this year as it heads online amid the global pandemic.
Securing the BAFTA-award-winning presenter and journalist is quite a coup for the festival which is hosting an array of poetry, music, dance, art and drama via digital platforms throughout the month.
Lorraine agreed to join the Arts e-Live team after meeting committee member Sgt Tom Stimpson MBE at a Help for Heroes (a national charity aiming to provide support for service personnel injured in the line of duty) event in London last year.
Tom suffers Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD) and PTSD following his time on active service and now gives insightful talks on trauma to educate leaders in the clinical and corporate world,
explains Lorraine.
He owes some of his difficult and heroic recovery to art therapy. His illustrations and sculptures created whilst at the Leatherhead organisation Combat Stress are truly inspirational. When he approached me to be patron I immediately accepted. The chair had only just been vacated by Dame Judi Dench so I am in good company.
Born in Gorbels, Glasgow in 1959, Lorraine turned down a spot at university to take up a post on the East Kilbride News.
She got her first taste for television as a researcher for BBC Scotland, before stepping in front of the camera as north of the border reporter for TV-am in 1984.
Since 2004, her post-breakfast ITV1 sofa has become something of a British institution – attracting not only politicians and Hollywood hotshots (Tom Hanks is a regular guest) but also everyday folk with a story to tell, all of whom are met with a beaming smile and an open mind.
The show regularly pulls in around one million viewers who tune in every weekday to enjoy the mix of showbiz chat, fashion and lifestyle tips.
And just like other national treasures who have gone before, Lorraine also proved to be just what the country needed during the darkest days of lockdown, as she, along with the rest of the ITV daytime family – Philip Schofield, Holly Willoughby et al, remained on the air throughout not only delivering an entertaining slice of ‘normality’ but often cutting through the overwhelming amount of information to get the answers the general public needed.
Her interview with health secretary Matt Hancock set social media aglow as she took the government to task over No 10 chief advisor Dominic Cummings’ ‘trip’ to the North East and fans hit out at the MP as he was seen to be smirking and shaking his head at her line of questioning.
We all thought it was really important to be on air to give a bit of normality, especially at the start of the pandemic,she says.
I especially felt it was vital to try and see some light in the darkness and also to give viewers some reassurance as well as providing information with proper clarity. That’s where I think our Dr Hilary Jones has excelled. He’s been the voice of reason and common sense, and always utterly trustworthy.
And while Lorraine worked tirelessly to keep the nation’s morale up, behind the scenes the 60-year-old has been facing worries of her own. Unlike her fellow stars who jetted off for a sun-soaked break over the summer, Lorraine headed home for some much-needed family time.
Being off gave me a chance to go up to Scotland, so not loads of sunshine. My dad has been very ill with a heart condition and other problems, and obviously at high risk so we have to be very careful around him.
My daughter Rosie drove me up there and has been such a help since she came home from Singapore. She starts her new job next week and I will miss her being at home all the time. Having such a lot of time with her has been one positive thing that has come out of all of this.
As well as her position as a top telly favourite, Lorraine has also become something of a style icon over the years and a poster girl for women of a certain age who don’t want to hang up their stilettos just yet.
In 2013 she shed pounds after joining her local exercise class run by fitness guru Maxine Jones, championing the sessions as a way of both keeping fit and staying positive – something which she says is even more necessary in these testing times.
It’s so important to make sure you get some exercise, but also that it’s fun and enjoyable. I really miss my keep fit classes, I’ve been trying to do them online and that’s fine but I miss all the girls and the sense of camaraderie. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without my little dog Angus. Taking him out for a walk not only keeps me healthy but it’s also a real stress buster.
Her fitness buddies are not the only thing Lorraine has missed over the past few months, as a big supporter of the arts she openly admits:
I have really missed live events and also not being able to just pop into museums and art galleries. I’ve been streaming productions from the Globe Theatre and I watched Hamilton online. It’s not the same but still enjoyable. I also love the idea of drive-in theatres and music and comedy gigs. Everyone has had to be even more creative in these times.
This is why she is so keen to get behind Mole Valley’s Arts e-Live with its innovative programme that includes, physical installation of haiku poetry in Leatherhead, comedy-drama The Travesty of Richard III by Dorking-based team The Culture Conspiracy, as well as storytelling sessions and works from playwright Tony Earnshaw.
Engagement with the arts is critical at this time,she insists.
And it’s a tribute to the committee and Mole Valley District Council that they are going ahead with the festival online. One benefit of being online is that it’s accessible to a much wider audience. There were over 17,000 participants in last year’s festival but I know the committee is hopeful that more people than ever can access events this October.
To find out more about the festival visit arts-alive.co.uk. Lorraine is on ITV1 weekdays from 9 am.
