Lorraine Kelly fought back tears as she overcame her fear of horse-riding today's episode of her self-titled chat show.
In 2012, the Scots presenter received life saving care at St George's Hospital in London following a horrific horse riding accident. Lorraine admitted she hadn't been able to go near a horse since.
To move past her phobia, Kelly visited 14-times Paralympic Gold medalist Sir Lee Pearson.
The para-equestrian champion called Lorraine's experience "traumatic" and said he understands her fear, reports Liverpool Echo.
Pearson added: "I probably have a degree of fear every day I ride, because they are three-quarters of a ton of horse and I still think everyday that it’s amazing that they allow me to sit on their backs.”
Lorraine was anxious as she prepared to ride a horse named Zion at Sir Lee's home near Stoke on Trent. She added: This is a massive step forward, just actually standing here so close [to a horse]. I haven’t done that for ten years.
“I’m just not sure if I can get on though, I’ll try… I still feel a little bit uncomfortable, so we’ll just see what happens.”
Lorraine donned Sir Lee's Championship hat from the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 and proceeded to mount the horse. Lorraine was in tears as she overcome the fear.
She said: "Oh my goodness me! Not in a million years, I never thought I would do this.” She described the experience as emotional and held back more tears as she vowed to not be "frightened anymore".
She said: "I have to say, that was much more emotional than I thought it would be. I couldn’t have done it with anybody else, apart from Sir Lee. He’s just brilliant, has given me so much confidence. And that beautiful, beautiful horse!... That was incredible, thank you so much.”
“I’m not going to feel frightened anymore. I’m not, I’m not and that’s a huge, huge, big deal for me, it really is. Yep.”
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV and the ITV Hub.
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