Lorraine Kelly is being honoured with a special BAFTA in recognition of her 40 years in broadcasting.
Lorraine Kelly is getting a special BAFTA in honour of her 40 years in television
The 64-year-old presenter has worked in breakfast television since 1984 and was left "shocked" when her self-titled ITV1 chat show was interrupted by 'Good Morning Britain' host Susanna Reid on Monday (25.03.24) morning to deliver the good news.
Susanna told Lorraine: "On behalf of the BAFTA board of trustees, we are delighted to offer you, Lorraine Kelly, the Academy's special award to be presented at this year's BAFTA television awards! "With this award, we would like to pay tribute to your outstanding contribution to television during which you have inspired generation viewers, been an advocate for a diverse range of causes and reported on a huge variety of issues and events This award is to celebrate those tremendous achievements!"
The former GMTV host will be honoured with the award at the upcoming ceremony on 12 May and after Susanna had stormed the set with the surprise announcement, joked that it couldn't be a wind-up because she didn't see Ant and Dec anywhere and reflected that she got her start in television because someone was willing to "take a risk" on her now-signature Scottish accent.
She said: "That's nuts. Where's Ant and Dec? It can't be a prank if it's Susanna! It must be true, because it's you! I'm in shock That's a bit posh, and grown up!"
"I was a baby and I got my chance in British television because they were willing to take a risk on somebody who had been told they'd never make it on TV because of the way I speak but the boss of TV-AM was Australian and he just said 'Oh, give her a go!'"
Moments before the surprise was revealed, Lorraine had been hosting a segment with former 'Strictly Come Dancing' contestant Tyler West about the 77th birthday of Sir Elton John and the upcoming series of 'The Traitors', but the conversation soon faded out and viewers saw Susanna backstage, explaining that the whole item was a "ruse".
She said: "Your televsion has not malfunctioned, there isn't a problem with the signal but I'm interrupting Lorraine's programme, she doesn't know anything about this but I have an absolutely huge announcement for her.
"I've got her very own breaking newsflash to celebrate her 40 years in broadcasting. So I've come from the 'Good Morning Britain' studio to the 'Lorraine' studio next door. Tyler is in on it and so is Dr Hillary, currently the conversation they're having is just a ruse so that Lorraine doesn't know anything about it. In a couple of seconds, I'll break into her programme."
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