It's Not Lorraine's Fault Her ShowFeels Outdated

ITV’s Lorraine is living on borrowed time. For close to 15 years, its enthusiastic host Lorraine Kelly has maintained her cheerful demeanor during fashion showcases and diet advice segments, along with discussions about Hollywood gossip. However, as part of significant reductions to their daytime programming lineup, ITV executives are cutting it down by half, adding an additional 30 minutes elsewhere. Good Morning Britain And eliminating its off-season programs completely. The leftover 30 minutes probably won’t last much longer, and unfortunately, not many will be missed.

Once upon a time, Lorraine worked as a banker at ITV; a blend of sophisticated and accessible content, featuring notable personalities and an articulate, affably voiced, well-liked presenter who had established himself as a reliable figure over 17 years on the show. GMTV .

It was just what was needed to fill the void left after their new breakfast show began. Daybreak (which in 2014 would instead be implemented with GMB ), and the victoriously paired Holly and Phil , then just a year into what would be a long and infamous reign on This Morning .

Back in 2010, we found ourselves amused and delighted by the eccentric array of shows featured during daylight hours on television. At that time, we hadn’t become captives to the endless stream of diversions nor the casual wisdom shared online through our phones. The parts of these programmes covering entertainment news, style trends, and personal matters provided sufficient satisfaction and likely matched well with our somewhat scattered focus at those early stages.

In 2010, we were only months into David Cameron’s coalition government, the impact of its austerity policies was yet to come, we still had solvent high street shops, had never heard the word “Brexit”, and there was still a permissible innocence to the apolitical magazine show.

In 2010, Kelly was still showing up most of the time with her usual level of energy.

However, fast-forward to 2025, and Lorraine It is sadly outdated. The content is far too concise and cluttered to delve deeply into topics, making it feel inconsequential and superficial instead of serving its intended purpose as engaging introductory journalism.

It has turned into barely a quiet pause amidst the loud impact of GMB and the necessarily muted This Morning (clinging onto itself desperately)

What isn’t an issue here is the discussion itself. Broadly speaking, people remain very much engaged with topics such as couple's therapy, supporting neurodiverse children, the risks associated with 'buy now, pay later' schemes, coordinating outfits with florals, following the storylines seen through the Yorkshire Shepherdess, analyzing the narrative conveyed via Kim Kardashian’s hairstyles, and even dressing up Pomeranians like Diana Ross; these were some highlights from this week’s show.

It’s simply because now, rather than being placed between the morning news and talk show slots, Lorraine fills the space between a brief one-minute TikTok clip where we consume copious amounts of data and tips, and a lengthy 40-minute podcast that lets us delve deeply into niche topics we're passionate about.

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The subjects remain the same—dieting, shopping, beauty, family, health—but we can find this information independently elsewhere. We have the ability to indulge in content directly from both novices and professionals, connect with individuals within these realms, and track their journeys without needing Kelly as our intermediary, particularly when she needs to alter her subject matter or interrupt for advertisements right at the most engaging parts.

It’s not Kelly’s fault—it’s just how the format works. She still maintains her distinctive composed and unapologetic demeanor, along with the knack for pretending to be interested in topics that likely fail to hold her attention anymore (although there’s been an ongoing internet jest for ages suggesting she skips out on presenting the show more frequently than she actually does).

She’s straightforward. This week, following some time away from the show due to laparoscopic surgery to have her ovaries removed, she came back and discussed the process in great depth with Dr. Hilary. "Many women worry they'll feel less feminine afterwards," he suggested, likely recognizing the intricate emotions shared by numerous viewers who can relate. "For me, that ship has long set sail; I'm 65 years old," she responded—acknowledging their concerns without downplaying them or revealing excessive personal frailty that might compromise her professional demeanor.

That’s always been her strength, regardless of the topic (she has openly discussed menopause for many years now). However, these days we appreciate emotions and honesty from public figures, and Kelly’s polished performance may seem detached. It’s unfortunate, since you can tell she becomes quite sharp behind the scenes. This could change quickly though, with daytime television facing even greater challenges recently.

Criticisms often target daytime television with derision; they dismiss its rapid-fire diversity and label it as mindless, lowbrow content. In contrast, those who defend it tend to be overly earnest, asserting that such programming addresses genuine national issues and mirrors the spontaneous discussions we share with peers, resonating on our wavelength.

Actually, it has only one aim — to maintain its audience base, which predominantly consists of women, often from an older generation and working-class background, who are hooked on television programming. This trend has persisted for several decades now. Lorraine has managed that by avoiding most of the tough stuff and promising to show us how to have longer lives, save more money, have better relationships and become happier.

Sadly for ITV, larger figures, briefer focus durations, and increased creativity lead us to be captivated by our smartphones instead, causing well-worn formats like this to become obsolete. Lorraine feeling like a relic.