Even the dreamiest of prospects could not currently lure Lorraine Kelly onto a red carpet.
The presenter went up two dress sizes in lockdown and is desperate to get back her “sparkle”, as she admits: “At the moment if I was invited to a red carpet event, I just wouldn’t have the confidence to go, not even if George Clooney was waiting for me naked and with a rose between his teeth.”
Now, Lorraine has signed up to be an ambassador for WW (Weight Watchers), to try to lose around a stone, but is more concerned with how she feels than what she weighs and will not be stepping on the scales.
Lorraine, 62, went from a dress size 10 to a size 14 during lockdown.
She blamed “comfort eating” with a nightly plate of chocolate.
Lorraine admits: “It went from a tiny square to a whole bar.”
The presenter and husband Steve, with whom she will celebrate 30 years of marriage in September, treated themselves to a platter at 8pm every evening during the pandemic.
She also sank too many glasses of wine and says Steve, who does the cooking, dished up extra-large portions. He also did extra suppers – something like cheese on toast.
Lorraine says: “Slowly, the weight piles on – it’s not overnight. I noticed because I was going to work, and I couldn’t fit into my clothes.”
In November, ahead of the ITV Palooza, she tried on one of her glamorous size 10 red satin gowns, in which she shone at the NTAs in 2016.
She was horrified when it no longer fit, saying: “I couldn’t get it over my hips.”
Instead, she opted for a size 14 black dress and says: “I looked ok, but I didn’t feel ok. I didn’t feel my best.”
At that moment, Lorraine, who has a 27-year-old daughter, Rosie, says she decided: “I know that I’ve really got a little bit of work to do – and I need help.
“I don’t feel like myself anymore.
“I knew that if I didn’t do something I’d be a 16, and then I’d be an 18.
"There is nothing wrong with being a size 14, but my body is supposed to be a 10.
"On Lorraine, we have models who are size 14, 16, 18, and they are perfectly proportioned, they’re perfectly healthy.
“I’ve got friends that are teeny tiny, and that’s great, that’s where they’re supposed to be. But I’m supposed to be a 10. If was an 8, I wouldn’t look good.
“But I was a 14 and just not feeling healthy. It’s about how you feel, and what’s good for you.”
At the same time, she noticed she was lacking energy, which she puts down to “spending too much time on my bum”, though she still did daily walks with her border terrier, Angus.
Lorraine was at her happiest and healthiest, she remembers, around the time she turned 60.
She regularly worked out with trainer Maxine Jones and enjoyed the camaraderie of joining a class so much that the pair teamed up for an exercise DVD in 2015.
But Lorraine missed the buzz while attempting to work out alone at home via online classes.
She says: “I thought I’d cracked it. There was me, all smug, ‘I’ve got this. This is great.
Finally, after all these years, I’ve actually managed it,’ and then... wham! Everything went like that.”
While hiding her frame in baggy shirt dresses and elasticated joggers, she admits skipping events because of her lack of body confidence.
She says: “There’s certainly been things I’ve just not gone to. I’ve just said, ‘Och no, I don’t feel up to that just now.’
"And the pandemic’s given us all an excuse to do that, hasn’t it?”
Lorraine, who was named a CBE in 2020, posted a candid message on social media in December describing how her poor diet and lack of exercise had left her tired and lacking stamina.
She was amazed by how many of her followers chimed in saying they felt the same.
Now she has signed up with WW to get back her lust for life and is keen to pick up her exercise classes including pilates and yoga, as well as begin eating more healthily.
She will also focus on toning as well as high-energy workouts on the WW app, vowing no longer to hide in a “tent” of a dress.
To motivate herself, she has hung her glamorous red gown somewhere she can always see it.
But Lorraine has vowed to ensure she still enjoys her favourite food in moderation, allowing herself avocados as her “ZeroPoint food”.
This is the food she can enjoy without making a dent in her daily points balance on the WW programme.
For tonight’s Valentine’s Day meal, she and Steve will enjoy a simple meal – but she will also allow herself some wine as a treat.
Lorraine explains: “You can say, ‘I’m going to have that celebration and I’ll just balance it out over the week.
“Whereas before, you might have had a massive, big curry, it will probably be something like a steak and a lovely big salad.
“And a glass of wine – too right!
“You can balance it all out. You can have the biscuit, you can have the cake...just don’t eat the whole bleeding cake!”
Lorraine has swapped her on-set sugary treats for porridge behind the scenes at the ITV studios and is getting an extra hour’s sleep thanks to banning her mobile phone from the bedroom.
A week and a half into the ban, she says: “I’ve gone from four and a half to five and half hours’ sleep to six and a half. It’s making a massive difference.
"If you don’t get enough sleep you’re going to be tired and hungry.”
And it helps to be able to keep track of every aspect via the WW app, where the community has already proved invaluable.
She says: “There’s something about the sisterhood that helps, I feel like I’m in this with everybody.
"I’ve only been doing it for a short time but it’s working.”
She adds: “I’ve done WW before and know it works, but that was a long time ago.
“What’s brilliant is that it’s easier than ever now because everything is on the app – I can track what I eat, my activity, my sleep and even how much water I drink!”
Join Lorraine on her journey at #joinLorraine and visit here to get 50% off. Joining info is here.
