Lorraine's tearful ITV staff 'fear for her future' after 'kick in the teeth' news on cuts

Daily Record

21-05-2025

Lorraine staff have been left devastated by the scale of job losses set to hit the programme as the programme prepares to be slashed from an hour to 30 minutes
Staff on Lorraine are worried that the popular presenter might leave the programme as it faces the impact of extensive ITV cuts.
Lorraine has been deeply affected by the extent of job losses coming to the show, which is also due to be cut from an hour to 30 minutes and will now broadcast only for 30 weeks a year.
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Although ITV's Kevin Lygo has assured that presenters will not change for all programmes under the axe, concerns are reportedly mounting amongst the staff.
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A source revealed: "There are genuine fears among staff that Lorraine may decide to walk if the quality of the show they are putting out declines. It's hard to see how standards won't fall....and there are questions over whether Lorraine will want to be associated with that. Lorraine and her team are perfectionists - it's why the show is loved by so many."
The decision feels like a "kick in the teeth", especially because ITV boasted this week about the show reaching its highest viewership in four years, reports the Mirror.
Another insider commented, "This is a presenter who has just come back from having an operation, has won a BAFTA, is enjoying record ratings....and then ITV show their appreciation by yanking her off air half the year. Staff are beside themselves, and have been in tears constantly. It doesn't make any sense given the trajectory the show is on."
We have contacted Lorraine representatives for further comment.
ITV plans to cut a total of 220 jobs in a bid to save as much as £50 million. Sources revealed a "collective devastation" after being summoned to an all-staff meeting yesterday, where they were informed that nearly half of the 450 jobs in ITV Daytime would be axed.
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The restructuring will see the savings "reinvested" into other programming with an emphasis on drama, sport, entertainment and reality shows. From January 2026, Loose Women will also adopt a "seasonal" schedule of 30 weeks a year, a reduction of more than 10 weeks from the current schedule but a return to the pattern it held for over a decade before 2016.
ITV's news provider ITN is set to take over production of Good Morning Britain from next year as part of the significant revamp of the channel's long-standing daytime brands. GMB will be relocated within ITN's Gray's Inn Road headquarters and extended by half an hour for 30 weeks of the year (6am - 9.30am), and by an hour for the remaining 22 weeks when Lorraine is now off air (6am - 10am).
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The changes aim to allow GMB to benefit from "the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins". The extra hours each week will be filled with additional regional news, investigations and analysis of the day's biggest stories.
Staff reacted with widespread dismay to the massive number of job cuts. The current Good Morning Britain team was particularly hard hit - of the 133 employees who currently produce the early-bird magazine show, hosted by Susanna Reid, Richard Madeley and Ed Balls, just 38 will make the transition to ITN.
An insider revealed: "The devastation among the staff is palpable after the announcement. To say it blindsided them would be an understatement."
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They continued: "There had been whispers going round for some time over a merger between ITV News and Good Morning Britain, but no indication that the Daytime shows would be affected.
"We still don't know how many people are going to lose their jobs, but rumours around 50% of the entire staff from GMB, Lorraine and This Morning will be affected which is staggering. "All of the shows are produced by teams of super dedicated professionals, everyone is completely devastated."
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Despite the upheaval, This Morning will keep its regular 10am -12.30pm weekday spot. The studios producing Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women, all part of ITV Studios, are set for relocation to central London.
Lorraine Kelly celebrated her 40th year in broadcasting last year and received a special BAFTA; she will now host her programme five days a week instead of four. Her stand-ins, Christine Lampard and Ranvir Singh, who also take turns on GMB and Loose Women, respectively, will remain essential members of the ITV Daytime team.
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Kevin Lygo, ITV media and entertainment managing director, has emphasised the need for cost-cutting amid soaring expenditures, whilst ensuring on-air talent remains. He explained, "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."
He further detailed the plans for ITV's news consolidation: "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."
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ITV outlined that the savings would support exciting projects such as the upcoming drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, significant sports broadcasts including next year's football World Cup, and various reality and entertainment programmes.
In addition, Lygo commented on the durability of the daytime segment: "Daytime has been a core element of ITV's schedule for over 40 years and these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade."
These adjustments are also included in ITV's latest five-year agreement with ITN for the provision of national, international, London, and digital news services.