BAFTA winner and national treasure Lorraine Kelly, 64, is celebrating 40 years in TV this year. She talks to Jo Ebsworth about becoming a grandmother, her Christmas Day rituals, and why being relaxed and happy is more important than aiming for perfection.
Words: Joanna Ebsworth. Images: Elisabeth hoff at elisabethhoff.com
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Christmas, for me, has always been about family. I’m very lucky because I do get to have some time off at Christmas – I don’t think it’s a secret that we pre-record the Christmas Day episode of Lorraine [the long-running weekday morning show Lorraine hosts on ITV].
The whole gang and I come back for an afternoon a couple of days before Christmas to film it and it’s always an absolute joy. Usually, I bring in Ruby, who is my daughter Rosie’s wee dog – my dog Angus wouldn’t behave himself – and she just sits on my knee while we put her in a series of different dog jumpers. Ross King, Dr Hilary and Dr Amir, and the lovely Mark Heyes and Tyler West have become my extended family, so we all give each other presents and talk about what will be on the telly that night and on Boxing Day, just like you would do at home.
We take Christmas quite seriously in my family, but we like to avoid any stress. My mother is a very wise woman because she always says that Christmas dinner is ‘just a Sunday roast that’s got a little bit above itself’. So, if you treat it like that, it helps to take off the pressure. My mum also says that you should delegate, delegate, delegate, and I think she’s quite right.
There’s no point in being a martyr and getting stuck in the kitchen all day so you end up all hot and sweaty. I always get somebody to bring the starter, somebody to bring the sweet treats, somebody to bring the desserts and so on. And, most importantly, everyone must help with the washing up and tidying! I am hopeless at cooking, so my husband Steve will be doing Christmas dinner with Rosie while Rosie’s fiancé, also called Steve, and I will be the tidy-uppers. Everyone must have a job!
I love that Christmas Day is such a traditional time. After we’ve phoned my mum and dad and all the family in America, Germany and Singapore, we’ll have the traditional spread of a prawn cocktail first, then turkey with all the trimmings as you would expect, followed by Christmas pudding, even if you feel like you’re going to burst and you can’t eat anymore, because it’s the law!
Afterwards, we’ll go on a big walk with the doggies, so we miss a bit of telly but watch things on catch up the next day. Every year, we always watch Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Scrooge with Albert Finney. Oh, and I’m a real sucker for Call The Midwife. You just sit there with a glass of something and cry your eyes out!
Christmas is only one day, but we all get ourselves in a terrible tizzy about it, don’t we? I think it’s a shame because women especially tend to try and do too much by creating the perfect Christmas. But, of course, there’s no such thing. I mean, my plates and cutlery don’t match, and I think this idea that your table has got to look like something out of a Hollywood movie is silly.
Some people eat their dinner sat on the couch or across lots of different tables, and it’s okay! It really should just be about everyone being together rather than half killing ourselves trying to get ready for it. Oh, and always avoid talking about politics or religion with your family at all costs because that road leads to madness!
We use the same decorations I’ve had since I was a kid, including some my grandmother had! They’re not worth anything. They’re from Woolworths and places like that, but you couldn’t put a price on them for me. I’ve got a decoration that Rosie made when she was three years old, and for years and years I thought it was a snowman, but I’ve realised it’s actually a fairy.
It’s the most precious thing to me so it sits at the top of the tree. One year, someone asked me what the theme was for my Christmas tree, and I thought that was really funny as we have the most higgledy-piggledy Christmas tree with tartan bows and decorations with George Michael and Freddie Mercury on them! It’s completely mad and totally eclectic but holds lovely memories.
I put my Christmas tree up right after my birthday on November 30. I used to have a real tree, but we’ve got an artificial one now because Ruby is a wee monkey, and she would be climbing to the top of it. One Christmas, during the first year of Covid when we couldn’t see anyone, I had to interview George Clooney over Zoom, and I was sat at home in front of my Christmas tree.
George sang Happy Birthday to me, and I went bright red as you can imagine – I was beside myself! – so I always remember that now when I put up the tree. At the time, I just thought, “this will do. This makes up for things [lockdown] a little bit”.
You want to be a little bit glam at Christmas but you’ve also got to be comfy. No one wants to be wearing anything uber fitted, especially when you’re eating too much! That’s why I love my new range from Bonmarché, because it’s a wee bit glitzy but you can watch the telly in it and eat as many sweeties as you want. It’s also very affordable, which helps.
I mean, everybody’s feeling the pinch right now, even more so around Christmas, and I think us women still tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list. We get all the presents for our grandkids, better halves, relatives and friends, and then we end up just throwing on something we’ve had for ages. So, I think it’s time we treated ourselves! I really love the sparkly trousers with the matching top. And the blue lacy dress is perfection because it doesn’t have any zips, so it’s very easy to get on and off. I love that Rosie and my mum can wear the clothes as well as me. It’s all timeless.
Celebrating Christmas always brings back memories. When Rosie was tiny, we obviously left out a massive glass of whiskey for Santa – funnily enough, Santa really likes his whiskey for working! – along with a carrot for Rudolph. And Rosie still gets her stocking from when she was tiny.
She’s 30 now and a mother herself, but I put a Terry’s Chocolate Orange in it, and a selection box, and lots of stupid things because it’s fun! I am so looking forward to doing all those things with Rosie’s sweet girl Billie when she gets older. I think Christmas really is about kids, otherwise it just turns into a day of eating like a pig and drinking like a fish. But when you’ve got kids around, that’s when the magic happens.
I’m so delighted to be a granny to baby Billie. It’s so cool! Mark Heyes got me the best present in the world, which was a wee Granny Smith apple tree [Lorraine’s husband’s surname is Smith]. It’s tiny, but I’ve planted it in the garden, and I hope to take a picture of Billie standing next to it every year on her birthday. And maybe one year it will give us Granny Smith apples, too!
Billie’s had loads of presents already and viewers have been so kind in taking the time and trouble to knit beautiful baby clothes for her. In fact, I’ve still got cardigans that viewers knitted for Rosie when she was born. I’ve kept them all wrapped up in tissue paper and Billie will be wearing them when she’s bigger. Billie’s a real sweetie, and it’s just an incredible thing to watch your own baby having a baby. Rosie’s doing an amazing job.
This year has been a massive year for me. Obviously, Billie is the biggest thing to happen, but I’ve also been celebrating 40 years in TV, so there’s been lots of wee celebrations and it’s been lovely. While I’m looking forward to Christmas, I’m also looking forward to New Year’s Eve because it’s a great time to look ahead but also look back on the year you’ve had. Billie’s arrival was amazing, and so was taking part in The Masked Singer, but receiving the BAFTA Special Award this year was astonishing and very much appreciated. I never expected to get something so prestigious.
In fact, I wasn’t expecting any of those things to happen, but they’ve all been brilliant. I’m very much at the stage in my life where I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll have a go at that!’. Don’t get me wrong, I could never do I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here or Strictly Come Dancing, I must add. But I think it’s good to challenge yourself and really enjoy every day. I’m very lucky to do a job that I love doing, working with an amazing team who keep me young.
I think it’s fine to indulge a little bit at Christmas. Don’t beat yourself up about it! Although the best bit of advice I’ve ever been given about socialising is to have a soft drink after an alcoholic drink, if you can remember.
Because, if I’m totally honest with you, I can’t drink like I used to when I was younger. I would much rather just have a nice cold glass of Cava and make that last, or maybe two, rather than really battering it because I don’t want a three-day hangover. I can’t do it anymore! Apart from anything else, you won’t find yourself falling over at midnight, and you can stay up a little bit longer.
But yeah, I just don’t enjoy getting drunk anymore. I mean, it’s daft getting completely out of it because you don’t know what’s going on. And now I’m a responsible grandmother, I can’t be doing those things anymore. I have to babysit!
Lorraine Kelly’s exclusive collection Lorraine Loves is available at Bonmarché stores nationwide and online at bonmarche.co.uk. She also hosts Lorraine on ITV, weekdays at 9am. Follow her on instagram.com/lorrainekellysmith.
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