Lorraine Kelly breaks her silence on brutal ITV cuts as she brands overhaul of her daytime show ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘tough’ but insists she will NOT quit: ‘I don’t see me going anywhere’

Lorraine Kelly has broken her silence on ITV’s decision to brutally cut her daytime show and insisted she will not be quitting her show anytime soon despite the ‘heartbreaking’ cuts.

The 65-year-old TV presenter saw the headline morning show face the brunt of cuts announced in May; Good Morning Britain now uses the 9-10am slot 22 weeks a year.

He will present five days a week for the remaining 30 weeks of the year, meaning Friday stand-in presenters Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard are no longer essential to the programme.

The program’s airing time has also been halved, and it now airs for just 30 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

In the months since ITV’s announcement was made, speculation has been rife that Lorraine would be leaving the soap.

But talking about cuts For the first time in five months, the Scottish star has vowed to stay on the show for as long as possible ‘until people get fed up’.

Speaking about the cuts for the first time in five months, the 65-year-old Scottish star vowed to stay on the show for as long as possible ‘until people get fed up’ (seen in July)

he said Mirror He had an “inkling” that there would be changes coming, but the show was “trying really hard” to make up for the lack of budget by “pushing well above our weight for the quality of the guests we found.”

Admitting she was ‘angry’ at the decision, Lorraine insisted her anger was on behalf of her team, who also saw their work disrupted.

Previous reports suggested up to 220 jobs were at risk from ITV’s daytime staff of around 450 employees.

He claimed that he found the news that his programs would be shorter and less frequent to be broadcast ‘good’, and that his main priority was ‘saving as many jobs as possible’.

While Lorraine said most of those who lost their jobs were reassigned to other programmes, she admitted it was ‘heartbreaking’ to lose team members she ‘grew up with’ and worked with for more than 20 years.

He said: ‘It’s been tough with the cuts, it’s been tough. I’m much happier about it now, but it was really and honestly about the team. ‘I wasn’t upset or mad at myself about it… it was about the team.’

But despite his dismay at the changes and some predictions that he would step down altogether next year, he insisted the cuts had not persuaded him to retire.

Lorraine, who said the likes of Loose Women panellists Janet Street Porter and Gloria Hunniford were ‘amazing women in their 70s and 80s who are just starting out’, insisted she would be following in their stead.

Admitting she was ‘angry’ at the decision, Lorraine insisted her anger was on behalf of her team, who also saw their work disrupted.

He responded to the news that he would leave the team when his one-year contract expires: ‘Absolutely not. I will slowly perform this demonstration on my Zimmer frame and even then I will move in.

‘I don’t think I’m going anywhere until people get fed up, you know? Until people said, ‘I’m sick of this.’

The Daily Mail previously revealed that Lorraine was offered the chance by ITV bosses to present the final 30 minutes of their broadcast by merging the daytime show with GMB, but she refused.

He had retreated to a meeting before the channel’s budget cuts were announced, where he was presented with the new proposal, which was deemed an ‘easy fix’ after the same format was adopted during the pandemic.

However, sources revealed that he was ‘insulted’ by the suggestion and told the progressives that it was not a possibility, resulting in his show’s broadcast time being reduced from one hour to 30 minutes.

The Daily Mail understands Lorraine, who has presented the show for the past 14 years, is ready to ‘step away’ but has agreed to continue hosting the series until the end of 2026.

A new role titled ‘Head of Lorraine’ has been created to oversee the changes, but the contract is only valid for a period of 12 months.

It was previously reported that staff feared Lorraine might decide to throw in the towel after the cuts were announced, a source said. Mirror: ‘There are real fears among staff that Lorraine may decide to leave if the quality of the show they broadcast declines.

Lorraine, who said the likes of Loose Women panellists Janet Street Porter and Gloria Hunniford (appearing) were “astonishing women in their 70s and 80s just breaking through”, insisted she would be following in their stead

‘It’s hard to see how standards won’t drop… and there are questions about whether Lorraine would want to be associated with that. Lorraine and her team are perfectionists; That’s why the show is loved by so many people.’

Changing viewing habits, including increased reliance on streaming services, have forced ITV to make some difficult decisions in a bid to remain profitable and keep some of the UK’s best-loved programs on air.

Meanwhile, ITV’s hit daytime shows will soon move to a new shared studio space.

Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will move to the basement studio of London’s The H Club Studio, the former private members’ club in Covent Garden, in January.

Almost 900 hours of live daily programming per year will be produced in the new studio, which features a 360-degree set with LED walls to project backgrounds of different shows.

The three series, which air back-to-back on ITV during weekdays, will use a single gallery rather than separate spaces, with the plan to quickly rotate the space between shows.

The space, spread over two floors, will be open to other ITV programs in addition to the daytime programme.

Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will move to the basement studio of London’s The H Club Studio, the former private members’ club in Covent Garden, in January (apparent)

Emma Gormley, Managing Director of ITV Studios Daytime, said: ‘As we work on more advanced and efficient ways to produce Daytime shows in 2026.

This move to the ‘H Club studio offers the latest technology we can use in our programming to create distinctive shows with a look and feel that our audiences know and love.

‘In a time of transformation for the whole industry, I would like to thank all our Daytime teams for their dedication and skill in producing high quality, engaging live shows every day throughout this period.’

The move was announced as part of a wider change to the ITV schedule, which will see Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women produced by a single team.