As I’m sitting waiting for Lorraine Kelly in her dressing room at the GMTV studios, the television on her dressing table is on – The Jeremy Kyle Show – and I’m just starting to lust after the numerous pairs of shoes stuffed into a hanging storage bag, when she arrives.
Kyle gets the kibosh straight away and, introductions over with, Lorraine starts frantically flicking through a copy of the Daily Express newspaper that’s on her chair. ‘I’m a cartoon,’ she squeals, bubbling with excitement. Finally finding the page – a cartoon of herself interviewing our then prime minister, Gordon Brown, and his wife Sarah – she proudly shows it off. ‘How exciting is that?’ she asks, her voice rising with the visible delight she has from becoming the subject matter of an artist’s pen and ink sketch. It’s her first, apparently, and she agrees that it will take pride of place in her toilet!
Initial excitement over, Lorraine steps out of the wonderfully high Berties shoes she’s been wearing for her show that morning and sits down, her enviably toned legs (she’s just finished training for a marathon, for goodness sake) dangling from the office-style chair she’s opted for (she’s given me the comfy armchair). The Glasgow-born GMTV stalwart is exceptionally busy the week we meet – Gordon and Sarah the day before, presenting the GMTV election coverage with veteran journalist, and in her own words ‘legend’ John Stapleton, the next day, off to interview Hollywood hunk Jake Gyllenhaal after talking to at home (‘How do you pronounce his surname? I’ve asked about three people, including his publicist, and everyone says it differently’) and, just last week, securing the only TV interview with Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing toddler Madeleine, as they marked three years since she went missing.
‘Gosh, that was hard,’ she admits. ‘I feel desperately sorry for Kate and Gerry. Of course, they shouldn’t have left her or the wee ones – I’d never have done that myself – but for goodness sake, they’re paying the price, aren’t they? ‘When I was on holiday, I don’t know if it was because we only had one, Rosie [her daughter] was with me all the time, in her pram sleeping. Or, more often than not, because we went to Greece and Spain, she’d be carried off to the kitchen and come back covered in chocolate because they’re such child-friendly places and people in restaurants always looked out for you. ‘When I heard the news that Madeleine had gone missing, I think like every other parent, I just felt cold. But Gerry and Kate are still hopeful, still optimistic. Who knows? You have to cling on to hope and keep going, but what a hellish thing to go through.’ So, does she think parents have gone into protection overdrive since high-profile cases like the McCann’s? ‘Yeah, I do think parents are over-protective but I understand why. I’m a bit like that myself but I think you’ve got to allow them some freedom.’
Teenagers, trust, tiaras and tutus. Now mum to a teenager – Rosie turned 16 in June– Lorraine believes trust is vital between parents and teenage children. ‘It’s important to be aware of what’s out there – Steve [her husband] and I keep an eye on things like Facebook with Rosie but I’d like to think that if there was anything, Rosie would tell me. She’s still talking to me, thank goodness, and I’ve always said to her, “Don’t ever be embarrassed to tell me anything”. I’ll always be on her side, she knows that, and I think that’s really important. I probably drive her nuts. We’re all embarrassing parents, that’s our job! But she’s a good kid, she’s really good company. It’s the simple things like when your kids give you a wee hug or say that they love you – especially when they’re 16 – that make you go, ooooh.’
Whether Lorraine embarrasses Rosie or not, the mother and daughter duo spend as much time together as they can, despite Lorraine’s hectic schedule flying back and forth (or, more recently, taking the train due to that ash cloud) from Dundee, where the family live, to London, where she stays from Sunday night until Tuesday afternoon. Quality time together might mean sitting on the sofa watching a film – ‘last weekend it was pouring with rain, we watched Avatar which went on and on and on forever and a day, and we just laughed, ate popcorn and chatted’ – or donning their tiaras and tutus together for a 10-mile midnight walk for local Strathcarron Hospice, followed hotly on its heels by the Edinburgh MoonWalk, a now annual event which sees thousands of women (and men) donning decorated bras and walking 26 miles through the night to raise money for breast cancer charities. ‘I’d like to keep on doing the MoonWalk until I’m in a Zimmer frame. It’s an amazing, emotional event. This year, my mum and Rosie are doing it with me for the first time. My granny, Margaret – my mum’s mum – died of breast cancer in 1991 and it’s a way for the next three generations to remember her.’
A marathon effort. Another much publicised event Lorraine took part in this year was the London marathon – having sworn after completing her second in London, plus the New York marathon, that she’d never do it again. Only a very determined woman would choose to run 26.2 miles on just four months’ training – and, what’s more, six months after turning 50. Was it reaching this milestone that spurred her on? ‘Well,’ says Lorraine, adjusting her position on her chair and settling in as if she’s regaling an old mate a story about some mutual friends. ‘Steve and I were sitting having dinner with my best friend, Joyce, and her husband-to-be.
We all said: You know what? We’re all 50, we should do something to mark this. I was thinking maybe a trip to New York to buy shoes, a spa break with Joyce or a trip to Ireland, but then – and I’m not sure who brought it up, I have a nasty feeling it could have been me – suddenly we were all saying what a good idea it would be to do the marathon!’And, with hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is, was it? ‘On the Monday afterwards, I was absolutely fine. I think the sheer euphoria of doing it carried me through. But on the Tuesday, the aches and pains suddenly hit. We ran the whole way – now, when I say running, we were overtaken by a couple of beer bottles, a gingerbread man and Darth Vader – so we weren’t exactly sprinting – but we did run all the way. But I do think that’s that. I don’t think my old knees have got another marathon in them.’
Up, up and away. Her knees may be about to retire but there’s no sign of that with any other part of her life. Despite the recent overhaul and change of management at GMTV, Lorraine is still very much in demand, with no signs of slowing down. Her recent interview with Gordon and Sarah Brown – a man whose career at the time of the interview on 5 May, the day before the election, was teetering on the brink – was deemed a media success. She, herself, was pleased with how it went with the (now) former residents of No 10. ‘Sarah Brown was very nervous, but they were ever so good because they answered everything, even the question about what will you do if you don’t win. I thought, I’ve got to ask, but I didn’t expect to get an answer!’ That answer was public service or charity work. Watch this space…
Brown’s career might be diminishing, but Lorraine’s is on the up, with not a coalition in sight – quite the opposite in fact, as her already one-woman show is evolving all the time. ‘There’s lots of change. The bosses want me to stay and I want to stay. It’s just a matter of working out a schedule. I’ll still be on telly the same amount but it’ll be more days live. It’s very exciting. I’m going to be in a different studio downstairs and have more of my own identity. I’ll still be part of GMTV but I’ll have a bit more autonomy. There are no showdowns. Having said that, I’ll desperately miss Penny and Ben. I’m really distraught they’re going because they’re pals and they are fantastic at their jobs. But Ben’s been thinking about it for a while, and it’s his choice, likewise with Penny, but I’ll really miss them. Sometimes when a big shake-up happens, it makes you think about what direction you want to go in. We’ll just have to see how it all pans out.’ ‘I’ve already had the opportunity to do a lot more since the changeover, since ITV took over – getting to do big interviews with the Browns, the election show – we do a lot more reactive stuff, a lot more punditry and newspaper reviews. It’s quite challenging but I really like doing that sort of thing.
We’ve also got cookery segments now which we didn’t have before. There are a lot of changes but they’re only subtle, it’s still the same programme. It’s just been given a wee tweak and I think it’s improved. It’s great and that’s why I’m still here. If I was still doing the same programme that I started presenting in 1989 on TV-am that would be silly. ‘It’s changed so much technically as well. When I first started, it was a big deal to get somebody on a live link anywhere and now it’s the norm. We’ve done live links to Antarctica, to the bloody space shuttle, to troops out in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s just extraordinary what you can do. It’s so immediate now and I do love that. And I love the fact that when you’re on live, anything can happen and often, it does! Sometimes, just as I’m about to say, “Let’s go to Los Angeles”, I’ve been told in my ear that a line has gone down and I’ve got to ad lib. It’s when it’s all chaos and madness like that and I have to fill in time that you’ll see me talking about Coronation Street!’
Celebrate good times. Speaking of madness, what does she think of the media fascination with her most recent birthday, the big 5-0, and the fact she’s still regarded by many as a sex symbol? ‘For me, turning 50 was just another birthday but a great excuse for a party.’ And the sex symbol part? ‘Well, that’s hilarious, the funniest thing ever! If there’s anybody out there deranged enough to think that a 50-year-old mother of a teenager is in any way sexy I’m honoured, thrilled and slightly bemused. But I think it’s great, fantastic! It just shows you that women of a certain age and all that…I do think you have to draw the line somewhere, though. When you get to a certain age you don’t want to be exposing your midriff and I’ve definitely put my mini kilt to bed. It’s at the back of the cupboard. It’s never going to come back out again, unless it’s for fancy dress!’
‘I’m very lucky, though, because I know that I don’t look 50– well, I don’t think I do, but you should see me first thing in the morning! I’ve inherited my mum’s cheekbones, my mum and my grandmother’s really good skin and their hair colour. There are a couple of grey hairs in there, but not many. ‘I believe in living and seizing the day. The pursuit of youth doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve got a youthful outlook and that’s very important. I know teenagers who are like 80-year-olds and 80-year-olds who are like toddlers, with a great,spirit of life. I think it’s a shame women put themselves under so much pressure. ‘What really upsets me is when I hear women of all ages, shapes and sizes say things like, “Do you know what, I’ll go on holiday when I’ve lost a few pounds, I won’t buy that dress until I can fit into a size 12 or 10”.
Do you know what? Just buy the dress in a bigger size, be comfortable in it and with your body and look great! Of course, if you’re morbidly obese or terribly thin because you’re not well or have an eating disorder, that’s a completely different thing. But generally, we’re all carrying a few more pounds than we’d like to. It’s OK. ‘My old gran, God love her, used to say, “Don’t keep anything for best. Every day is best”. She was brilliant. She’d spray herself with expensive perfume and get dolled up to the nines to take the bins out. But I really like that attitude, I think it’s superb.’Adopting this healthy attitude herself, Lorraine is undoubtedly seizing every day and the future looks positively gleaming. ‘I’d love to be able to keep doing this but I’m very aware that it’s like being a footballer and it will end one day. But if people are still watching and the bosses still want me, I’ll be more than happy to stay here for as long as I possibly can. ‘I don’t see myself ever retiring. I think I’d always be writing or doing something. I just don’t think I could completely stop – I’d get bored and would drive my husband crazy!’
What lies ahead. Everything in Lorraine Kelly’s garden seems rosy right now, but is there anything ahead that she fears?
‘I’m dreading the empty nest syndrome. And even before that, what I know I’m going to find difficult is the letting go. At least I am able to recognise that in myself. You have to do it, you’ve got to. But I do recognise that I’m going to have to do that. When Rosie actually goes off to do her own thing, that’s going to be hard. It’s that weird thing, half of you wants them to fly – you give them wings and you want them to go for it, to find their place in the world and be happy and fulfilled – but at the same time you want to keep them close to you and protect them.‘I don’t know what Rosie wants to do and I don’t think she knows right now.
I think she knows she wants to do something creative, and maybe in the media, but certainly she’s got absolutely no desire to be in front of the camera which I’m rather happy about. Although, to be fair, I think she can do whatever she wants, so long as she’s happy.’ Even though it’s breast cancer that has affected her family, she confesses that Alzheimer’s is what worries her most. ‘It terrifies me. You lose yourself and everybody around you loses you, bit by bit by bit, chipping away. You’re kind of dead but you’re not dead. That’s the one thing I’d be frightened about, that would scare me. I would very quietly want to just not be there. But we don’t have a history of it in our family.’
Aheart-warming tale. Looking ahead, Lorraine hopes to turn her hand to more writing. She already writes regular columns in The Sun and The Sunday Post and an agony aunt column in women’s magazine, Best. But she’d like her writing to take a different turn. ‘I’d love to write fiction but that’s a proper job. You don’t just fit that in with everything else. I wouldn’t write about television because too many people have done that. I’d like to write good, honest, page-turning, heart-warming story. A bit like Maeve Binchy. No sex, because I don’t think anybody writes about sex very well. We all know what happens and what goes where and squelch, squelch, and I don’t really want to write about that, thank you very much! But a good story that would move you, make you laugh, make you cry and be really true. The kind of book that people close at the end and think, I’m cross I’ve finished that because I really enjoyed it.’ And that’s just how I feel as my time with Lorraine comes to an end – it would be easy to sit and natter all day – but Lorraine has things to do and places to go. Most important of all is answering a text from Rosie. The teenager has sent her mum a photo of a dress she’d like to buy for Auntie Joyce’s wedding and she wants her mum’s approval.
Placing that at the top of her hectic to-do list – along with having to meet a rugged, young Hollywood actor in a couple of hours – Lorraine slips on a pair of black patent Birkenstocks and walks me to the lift. Life shows no signs of slowing down for the down-to-earth girl from the Gorbals in Edinburgh. As we say goodbye (a kiss and a hug like I’ve known her for years) a vision of the future pops into my mind – if the time to slow down ever arrives, I wouldn’t mind betting Lorraine will still be very much a household name, with paparazzi pictures of our gal dolled up to the nines while putting the bins out.
Photograph: Brian Aris
