Lorraine's two-month absence is nail in the coffin - time for ITV to swing the axe
Lorraine won't be back on air for months, and it's bliss being able to turn the TV on in the daytime again.
Lorraine’s eponymous ITV show has been taken off air for almost two months, and finally I can turn on my television in the daytime without fear of seeing her simpering over the latest celebrity book release. Finally, I’m free. That’s harsh. I like Lorraine, I do. As a documentary presenter, she’s empathetic and relatable – her Return to Lockerbie programme in 2023 had tears in my eyes as she returned to the site of the devastating plane crash. I even enjoyed seeing her pop up on The Masked Singer. But when it comes to her insipid daytime talk show, I would literally rather read the Yellow Pages from front to back than watch.
Lorraine confirmed she will be off-air for the next seven weeks, telling fans it’s “because of the changes to the show”, which will now air for 30 weeks of the year.
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There was, of course, the incident with Kim Woodburn’s death, in which Lorraine was slammed for her chipper tribute to the Queen of Clean. There’s the constant fawning over romance books penned by the likes of Anton Du Beke. There are the interviews that never, ever dare to even approach asking a probing question.
With the sweeping cuts taking over ITV, meaning GMB gets extended while Lorraine and Loose Women only airs in certain weeks of the year, it’s clear there’s one way the broadcaster can move with the changing times while saving a bit of cash.
After more than 2,000 episodes – only 1,348 of which were hosted by Lorraine herself – it’s time to pull the plug and turn off the life support on an already dying programme.
Look at the facts. Lorraine has an average star rating of just 2.9 out of 10 on IMDb. What started as a mere segment on GMTV and expanded into a fully fledged 30-minute offering needs to rewind. Give Lorraine a slot on This Morning or GMB, where she has five minutes or so to plug whatever celebrity memoir she’s pretending to read that week.
Or, better yet, give her a game show to present. I genuinely believe that Lorraine would flourish somewhere like Catchphrase or Lingo. She could bring the high energy, sweet personality people like Ben Shephard are sorely lacking on Tipping Point.
