Lorraine Kelly has hit back at a viral X/Twitter account that mocks the amount of time she spends away from her namesake chat show.
The broadcaster has hosted her ITV flagship show since 2010. She originally hosted four days a week, but she upped her Monday to Thursday working week to five days in 2014.
However, she has been absent from a number of shows so far in 2024 - so much so that a disgruntled fan set up an X account to keep track of how many appearances the 64-year-old makes on the show
Titled Where is Lorraine?, the account now has 11,000 followers. Followers are updated daily on who presented the show - be it Kelly or frequent stand-in hosts Ranvir Singh or Christine Lampard.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour on Friday, Kelly hit back at the account - suggesting she “didn’t care” about it.
“The amount of space I occupy in people’s head is quite bizarre,” she said.
“It’s hilarious! It is fine, I don’t mind and I don’t care. I probably would have cared before but I really don’t now.”
Scottish star Kelly revealed there had been a reason why she’s taking more time off - her mother’s ill health.
“You should never comment on things like that if you don't know what is going on in people’s lives,” she said.
“But I am having to take quite a few Fridays off as my mum is really not well. I can go home now and spend some more time with her.”
⁉️ How do you write the novel you’ve always wanted to read?
— BBC Woman's Hour (@BBCWomansHour) February 16, 2024
📺 Lorraine Kelly, queen of breakfast TV, joins @itsanitarani to discuss her life, 40-year career and how she finally made the time to write.
🎧 Listen here ⬇️
On Friday, the account posted a picture of Ranvir Singh with the caption: “ Lorraine Kelly did not host her own show this morning with with Ranvir Singh stepping in.
“#Lorraine has hosted 24 episodes out of 34 (70.5%) this year, Ranvir has hosted 6 and Christine Lampard has hosted 4.”
The account also posted Kelly’s interview with Woman’s Hour, boasting that the presenter had acknowledged its existence.
It later followed up with the comment: “It feels apt to say now that of course we respect that Lorraine may need more time away to look after her mother.
“There is, and never has been, any malice behind this account. It is all for fun and we are happy that @reallorraine seems to understand that.”
It feels apt to say now that of course we respect that Lorraine may need more time away to look after her mother.
— Where Is Lorraine? (@LorraineKWatch) February 16, 2024
There is, and never has been, any malice behind this account. It is all for fun and we are happy that @reallorraine seems to understand that
Kelly also discussed her upcoming book, women in the media and recent appearance on The Masked Singer while on the Radio 4 Show.
She was revealed to be Owl at the end of last month on the popular ITV singing show.
Appearing in her furry costume on her own ITV daytime talk show Lorraine on the Monday after she was eliminated, Kelly told The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett: “I was quite nervous. The worst thing was trying to remember the words.”
Asked about keeping secret that she was taking part in the show, she said: “My husband knew, but I didn’t tell anybody. It was really hard – I wanted to tell everybody.”
