Lorraine Kelly was “left insulted” by an offer made by ITV in relation to her daytime series Lorraine.
Last week, it was revealed that the channel is shortening Kelly’s show by half and will reallocate those 30 minutes to Good Morning Britain instead, as part of a cost-cutting drive.
From January 2026, Kelly’s breakfast programme, which she has hosted for the past 15 years, will air from 9.30am until 10am for 30 weeks – instead of filling its usual 9-10am slot.
Meanwhile, Good Morning Britain will run from 6am until 9.30am instead of 6am to 9am.
It’s now been claimed that Kelly, who appeared at Hay Festival earlier this week, was originally told that ITV wanted to merge her show with GMB – an idea that she reportedly rejected.
According to MailOnline, the host “was pulled into a meeting with bosses where she was told about Good Morning Britain”.
“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.”
It’s claimed Kelly “told them no and said it wasn’t even a possibility”. The reshuffle was made weeks later.
A source told the outlet: “The entire thing has been an insult and she’s certain to leave when the year-long contract ends.”
Kelly’s programme will only run seasonally, with Good Morning Britain entirely taking over her original slot for the remaining 22 weeks of the year.
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The TV host will present her programme five days a week, with her Friday stand-ins Ranvir Sign and Christine Lampard no longer needed.
This Morning and Loose Women will be unaffected by the scheduling changes and remain in their usual respective time slots.
A source close to ITV told MailOnline: “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.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, said: “Daytime is a really important part of what we do, and these scheduling and production changes will enable us to continue to deliver a schedule providing viewers with the news, debate and discussion they love from the presenters they know and trust as well generating savings which will allow us to reinvest across the programme budget in other genres.
“These changes also allow us to consolidate our news operations and expand our national, international and regional news output and to build upon our proud history of trusted journalism at a time when our viewers need accurate, unbiased news coverage more than ever.”
It comes after ITV announced earlier this year that it would be minimising its soap schedule to try to reduce costs on Coronation Street and Emmerdale. From January 2026, the two much-loved dramas will air as half an hour episodes in a so-called soap “power hour” from Monday to Friday each week.
RedBird IMI and Banijay have reportedly approached the broadcaster with offers for its ITV Studios production arm, which makes programmes including the reality dating show Love Island, talent competition The Voice, and Jilly Cooper adaptation Rivals, among others.
Andrew Cosslett, ITV chairman, said at the broadcaster’s AGM last week, per The Sun: “If someone approaches the company with an offer to talk, that’s something we have to take seriously because we’re representing your interests.
“And it’s very clear from the room that there is a high level of interest in the share price and the value of the business. So we have to accommodate any requests and conversations that take place.
“But our current strategy is very clear and it’s making the best of what we have in combination.”
The Independent has contacted Kelly and ITV for comment.
