ITV's Lorraine Kelly 'insulted' by 'desperate' offer to merge show with huge rival

ITV's Lorraine Kelly 'insulted' by 'desperate' offer to merge show with huge rival Newspoint | 27/05/2025 23:39:15

ITV star has reportedly declined an offer from the broadcasters after a number of cuts were announced. Reportedly, bosses on the channel had suggested that she merge her self-named show with .

The alleged proposition would have given Lorraine the chance to host the breakfast show for 30 minutes each day, similar to the format adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, in what bosses have called an "easy fix," reports However, sources close to the 65-year-old have reportedly said that she was "insulted" by the offer and turned it down.

A source told the Mirror: "We were very open about the challenges in the industry and so several options were discussed - the key was ensuring Lorraine was retained and was as comfortable as possible in a changing landscape. Her show is still hugely valued - the show recently had its highest audience share in four years and still reaches 2.7 million people."

Lorraine was hugely impacted by the ongoing changes at ITV. The show will now air for 30 weeks of the year, rather than all year round and the duration of the programme has been cut from an hour to just half an hour.

A source said: "Lorraine was not happy about what is happening and also had concern for the production team which will be cut back too. But the truth is she has to roll her sleeves up and work harder on her own show than she has in recent years, otherwise the long-term future does not look good."

Mail Online reported that a source told them: "Lorraine was pulled into a meeting with bosses where she was told about Good Morning Britain being taken over by ITN ahead of the public announcement.

"It was proposed that her show would merge with GMB so that she presented the last 30 minutes of the broadcast, which is what happened when a reduced team were working during lockdown.

"But she told them no and said it wasn't even a possibility... fast-forwarded two weeks and the channel announced her show would be cut from an hour to 30 minutes... The entire thing has been an insult and she's certain to leave when the year-long contract ends."