Lorraine Kelly will become the British Oprah Winfrey
LORRAINE KELLY is to be repackaged as the British Oprah Winfrey in a revamped GMTV breakfast show on ITV1.
Insiders say the host will present her own slot, possibly in front of a live studio audience.
Producers are comparing it with America’s most successful daytime show hosted by Winfrey. Lorraine’s LK Today show will be a mix of celebrity features and other stories. Producers are modelling it on America’s popular NBC Today Show. It’s even rumoured it will be renamed ITV Today.
A well-placed insider said: “We are trying to push the slot upmarket. We’re going for high-quality entertainment and high-quality news.”
Sources say Kelly, who earns £350,000 a year, was told by cost-cutting ITV bosses she could no longer pre-record episodes.
Kelly, 50, had been commuting from her Tayside home to the studios in London to record her shows in advance. The Glasgow-born mother-of-one divides her time between Broughty Ferry and London.
GMTV recently signed The One Show team of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley for the sofa. Presenters Ben Shephard, Penny Smith and Emma Crosby have either left or are planning to leave.
Despite ITV’s cost-cutting, Chiles has joined on a £6million deal, while Bleakley signed for £4million. Many ITV staff are unhappy with the deals coming in a time of cutbacks.
Fellow host Kate Garraway, who earns £240,000 a year and was set for the axe, will now stand in for Christine Bleakley.
ITV refused to confirm the changes to the breakfast show, which is to be relaunched in September.