ITV host Lorraine Kelly has reflected on the harsh feedback she once received early in her career, before going on to front her own self-titled show14:06, 15 Jun 2026Updated 14:09, 15 Jun 2026Lorraine Kelly has opened up about a setback early in her career, before she made her breakthrough as a broadcaster. In a new interview, the 66-year-old said she was left "crushed" when she was told she'll never make it on television.‌Describing how her career began, she said: "I just bombarded the BBC. They must have got fed up with me. I applied for a job in Aberdeen as their farming correspondent, I wouldn't even know one end of a cow from the other, I mean I had no idea.‌"But I just thought, eventually they're going to get so annoyed with me for just applying for everything that they're actually going to give me a job and they did."‌In 1983, Lorraine secured a role as a researcher for BBC Scotland and, although she "absolutely loved it", she aspired to become a reporter."What I wanted to be was a reporter, but it wasn't to be sadly," she told Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2's Tracks of My Years.‌"I was always sent out to do vox pops and things because I would talk to everybody, I would talk to nuns and policemen on horsebacks, I would talk to everybody."She then recalled being called into the office by the "big giant boss" at BBC Scotland, expecting a promotion, but instead was given a harsh assessment of her future in television."I thought, 'Oh this is my big chance' and he told me I would never make it in television because of my accent and that was BBC Scotland. Because I've got a Glasgow accent, he said, 'You have to go elocution lessons', I mean, as you can imagine I was really crushed.‌"It was back in the day when nobody spoke like me, you wouldn't have people speaking like me on the tele," she added. In a U-turn on that same day, Lorraine said she went for a role as a reporter on TV-am as in 1984, and successfully bagged the job.The presenter stayed in this job up until 1993 before she helped launch GMTV. The following year in June, Lorraine went on maternity leave, during which she discovered that her contract had not been renewed.‌However, she returned that November to front a mother-and-baby segment. Lorraine went on to front Nine O'Clock Live, which was later moved to an earlier time slot and rebranded as Lorraine Live.Before launching her successful self-titled ITV programme, she also presented a number of high-profile breakfast shows, including GMTV and Daybreak.Earlier this year, it was announced that her show would be reduced from an hour to just 30 minutes on a seasonal basis.Article continues belowLorraine airs weekdays from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX.