Lorraine Kelly‘s former boss has sensationally claimed that the daytime TV legend’s story about how she got her big break in TV is ‘absolutely untrue’.
Lorraine tells the story about how she was thrust into the spotlight at ITV in a new documentary celebrating her 40-year career – and thanked a TV boss for giving her a chance on the small screen.
But her version of events has been spectacularly shot down by the husband of fellow daytime television star Anne Diamond.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, former TV executive Mike Hollingsworth, who was TV-am’s Director of Programs at the time, says he was pivotal in her becoming a household name.
Lorraine, 64, says in the new documentary that she was an unknown media junior in a provincial office in Scotland when she boldly rang the breakfast station’s managing director Bruce Gyngell who told her to come down to London for an audition – before handing her the job.
The story of how Lorraine Kelly achieved her rise to fame has been called into question as execs row over who discovered her first
Lorraine is celebrating her 40-year television career with a new documentary on ITV
But Hollingsworth, who is now retired, has now come forward to reveal the star had failed to remember key steps on her journey to fame in her interview for ITV’s ‘Lorraine Kelly: 40 Unforgettable Years’.
And he challenged Lorraine’s account that she was only hired by TV-am in 1984 because the station was run by an Australian who – unlike English media executives – wasn’t put off by her ‘working class Glasgow accent’.
Hollingsworth – former husband of Lorraine’s breakfast TV colleague Anne Diamond – insisted it was in fact he who had first hired the future star – and how in fact the man she attributed with discovering her had actually tried to veto the appointment because he did not believe viewers would be able to understand her Scottish delivery.
Hollingsworth told MailOnline today: ‘Once again she credits the late Australian MD of TV-am with giving her the chance of a job.
‘This is absolutely untrue – in fact the reverse was the case. Gyngell didn’t initially like my choice because of her Scottish brogue but I took a stand against his view.
‘I am a bit miffed that she constantly refers to her beginnings as if Bruce Gyngell was the author of them.
‘I’m not saying that I was solely responsible – I’m just saying that some recollections may vary.’
Family, friends and colleagues paid tribute to Lorraine during the hour-long programme which explored her enduring career as one of the country’s leading broadcasters.
Her career was kicked off at TV-am (pictured with the late Mike Morris during her time on the show)
Lorraine, 64, says in the new documentary that she was an unknown media junior in a provincial office in Scotland when she achieved her rise to fame
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, former TV executive Mike Hollingsworth, who was TV-am’s Director of Programs at the time, says he was pivotal in her becoming a household name
The Last day of TVAM showing presenters Liza Aziz, David Frost, Lorraine Kelly, Mike Morris, Bruce Gyngell Katheryn Holloway and Niky Fox
The documentary charted Lorraine’s rise from her humble beginnings born to teenage parents who lived in ‘one wee room’ in the notorious Gorbals area of Glasgow to becoming the ‘undisputed Queen of daytime telly’.
In a ‘candid and personal interview’ Lorraine told how she worked on her local newspaper after leaving school before joining BBC Scotland as a researcher where she had hoped to land a job as a reporter.
Describing how her dreams were quickly shattered she said: ‘The big boss pulled me into the office and I thought he was going to offer me a job.
‘I remember him taking his glasses down and looking at me and said: ‘You’re never going to make it in television – not with that accent. You’re going to have to get elocution lessons. It’s not going to happen’ – and I was crushed.’
Determined Lorraine told how the next day she was on the phone to Tv-am which had undergone a disastrous launch the previous year before the maverick mogul Gyngell was brought in while Hollingsworth was hired to replace Greg Dyke as director of programmes.
Lorraine said: ‘I found out there was a job going at TV-am. I picked up the phone. I asked to be put through to the big boss. He said ‘Oh yeah. Come down, come down for an audition.
‘So I went down, did the audition and as the boss was Australian he didn’t hear a working class Glasgow accent. He just heard a Scottish accent and gave me the job which was amazing because you didn’t have people sounding like me on the telly at that time.’
But describing his version of how Lorraine landed the job of TV-am’s Scotland correspondent in October 1984, Hollingsworth said: ‘She applied for the job that we advertised in Glasgow.
Lorraine has this week been celebrating her 40-year anniversary on TV (pictured on her show this week)
‘I had to fight to advertise for two journalists in Scotland in the Guardian newspaper when I had just arrived at TV-am and saw how depleted the journalist numbers were on the station.
‘Myself and my news editor, Bill Ludford, interviewed several people for the jobs and eventually took Lorraine and another person onto the team.
‘Gyngell took no part in interviewing Lorraine or anybody else when I was there but the problem was he kept interfering with decisions that I was making as director of programmes.
‘After I had introduced her to Gyngell as a courtesy, he came to me and said that he thought her accent was too strong for our audience and it took both my news editor and I to keep her on board. We knew she’d be good.
‘Gyngell actually said “I don’t really understand her”. After she had gone Bruce said “My God. Are you sure?”
‘Lorraine was kept very busy in Glasgow because it turned out she was the only one doing any work.
‘Unfortunately the bloke we picked was an alcoholic so Lorraine had to work twice as hard because she covered for him as well.
‘She turned in some great stuff. She did some beautiful films and, of course, she had some beautiful scenery to call on.’
Lorraine is pictured in the early days of her career, as shown on ITV this week
Hollingsworth, 79, told how it was not long before Lorraine was asked to step in as a stand-in presenter – giving her her first taste of life on the sofa.
He said: ‘Eventually Gyngell came round to her and because her looks were very similar to our star presenter, Anne Diamond, he agreed with me that she would make a good stand-in for Anne when she was off having a baby.
‘That’s when her studio presence took off and we created the ‘After Nine’ programme specifically to take advantage of her, more homely, appeal in contrast to the main hard news programmes.
‘It might have been that when she came down that she talked to Bruce.
‘This was always a bit of a problem for me which is why I eventually had to leave because Gyngell was always interfering. He was always trying to stick his oar in.
‘It was quite possible that when she was actually working for us that she turned round to Gyngell at some point and said something like ‘I’d like to be presenting rather than reporting’.
‘He was very susceptible to female flattery so it’s quite possible that she thinks of it in that context.
‘What really annoys me is that she says that he was the one that took her on when he didn’t.
Lorraine revealed a TV boss told her she would never make it in the industry due to her ‘working-class Glasgow accent’
Speaking on the struggles she faced when starting out in the industry, Lorraine explained: ‘In fact, I was told by the boss of BBC Scotland that I would never make it in TV because of my working-class Glasgow accent.’
‘I just feel very strongly that some people get credit that they’re not due.’
Gyngell, who died aged 71 in September 2000, returned to Australia after TV-am lost its franchise to GMTV in 1992 – while Lorraine’s career went from strength to strength with the new network.
Hollingsworth left the station in 1986 and went on to become an agent helping to launch the TV career of another much-loved Scottish presenter Kirsty Young.
He insisted Lorraine simply made light of it when he challenged her over her account of how she landed her job when they bumped into each other at events.
He said: ‘I’ve heard Lorraine’s credit to Bruce Gyngell before and have let it pass although Ludford has tried to correct her story, but she should know that myself and Ludford had to fight hard with Gyngell to keep her.
‘I’ve met her a few times and I have said to her ‘Are you still telling people that Bruce discovered you?’ – but she would just laugh.’
He added of Lorraine: ‘I think she does a superb job – I’ve never demurred from her abilities to do her job.
The award-winning presenter, journalist and author, 64, has marked incredible four decade long career with a documentary titled ‘Lorraine Kelly: 40 Unforgettable Years’ which aired on October 2
‘I remember her as an extremely hard working person. She was always great fun. She was always up, her mood was always positive.
‘When she first started there were only three channels. It’s a totally different world now and what is amazing is that Lorraine’s show has survived all those different changes in the world of TV.
‘There are people saying now that after 40 years she’s had her time but actually she still fits the bill. It’s the profile that she fits.
‘The great secret for television at both breakfast time and that cross-over point of Lorraine is that you’re there every day.
‘Viewers like to see that the world is all the same. Everything is in its place.
‘Lorraine really gives that comfortable feeling. People put the kettle on, put their feet up, watch Lorraine and the day has started for them.
‘We were lucky to find her.’
