A social media account that monitored the attendance of Lorraine Kelly on her TV show has shut down after the presenter called it “hurtful”.
LorraineKWatch, boasting over 25,000 followers, provided daily updates on whether the 65-year-old had presented her show Lorraine on ITV.
Kelly, who is often replaced by Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard, was the butt of an ongoing joke, as the X/Twitter account asked urgently “Where is Lorraine?”. It provided an ongoing tally and percentage for the number of shows the host had presented, with the latest figure standing at 68.1 per cent.
When Kelly did present the programme, the account would drily add “Congratulations Lorraine” and update the score. Appearances on other programmes including BBC Radio at the same time as her self-titled talk show were often called out.
But the presenter hit out at the tracker as she spoke out about it for the first time.
“It’s really hurtful actually. It really is. I’ve not spoken about it before,” she told The Guardian. “I’m a grafter and I work really hard and I’ve had to take Fridays off for the past year. I just thought it was weird to care so much.”
Kelly, who has previously said that she took the time off to care for her mum, expanded on why she now works four days.
“Initially, it was for my mum who has been ill,” she said. “And it sort of brings you into line with everyone else because if you look at This Morning, everybody else does four days. And as I’m getting older, I want to do other things, more writing, all of that. Mate, I’ve been doing this for 40 years, working my a**e off.”
The account released a statement, which has since been viewed over 2.5 million times.
“I have always said that if Lorraine or her team reached out and asked me to stop this account then I would,” it wrote in a post on X/Twitter on Sunday (9 March).
“While I have not had contact with Lorraine or anybody affiliated with her, her comments in this weekend’s The Guardian make it clear that the joke has run its course and it is time for it to end.
“I have said time and time again that this was only ever meant to be fun and I’m very grateful to everybody who has enjoyed it with me. There was never any intention of hurting Lorraine’s feelings and I am sorry if I have done so. Goodbye my Lorrainvirstines.”
Fans of the account lamented its loss as they wrote “sad to see you go” and others who said it was “always more fun than malicious”.
Others posted a meme of Towie star Gemma Collins saying exasperatedly: “It’s a bit of a laugh, it’s tongue in cheek Danielle.”
