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If you’ve been on Twitter recently, you’ll have noticed Lorraine Kelly has been going viral for a pretty unusual reason.
While many people hit headlines for something they’ve done, with Lorraine it’s the complete opposite.
You see, there’s an account that tracks how many times she’s hosted her eponymous ITV daytime talk show – and, more importantly, how many times she’s had to hand over to guest presenters including Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard.
Often the guest spots coincide with Fridays and half term, but as her daughter Rosie is now aged 29, many viewers have been left wondering why she’s had to take the time off.
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The ‘Where Is Lorraine?’ account, which has the handle @LorraineKWatch, tweeted earlier today: “Lorraine Kelly did not host her own show this morning with Ranvir Singh stepping in.
“#Lorraine has hosted 24 episodes out of 34 (70.5%) this year, Ranvir has hosted 6 and Christine Lampard has hosted 4.”
One person commented: “Come the summer holidays it’s gonna be 25%.”
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Someone else said: “She’s on holiday as she is every half term! Nothing new.”
A third added: “Why is it still called Lorraine?”
The presenter has now spoken out about the bizarre online hype during an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, when she was asked if she was aware of the tweets.
"The amount of space I occupy in people's heads is quite bizarre,” she said.
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Lorraine went on to say there was a crucial reason why she’d been having to take Fridays off recently, adding that she wasn’t fussed in the slightest by the backlash.
"It's fine, I don't mind, I don't care,” she said.
“I probably would have cared before but I really don't now, it's absolutely fine.
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“To be honest, you should never comment on things like that if you don't know what's going on in people's lives.
“I am having to take quite a few Fridays off because of my mum's really not well, so I can go home now and spend some more time with her, probably a bit more than I have been able to - so that's happening just now, but that will change."
The veteran ITV star added: "I have been doing five days a week for 40 years so I am taking a wee bit of time off and obviously this is half-term so I am free to talk to you, which is fantastic."
The ‘Where Is Lorraine’ account later responded to her comments, saying it meant no ‘malice’ to with the online joke.
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“It feels apt to say now that of course we respect that Lorraine may need more time away to look after her mother,” it said.
“There is, and never has been, any malice behind this account. It is all for fun and we are happy that @reallorraine seems to understand that."
Topics: ITV, Lorraine, Celebrity, TV And Film
Jess Hardiman