TV favourite Lorraine Kelly has stirred up curiosity among her followers after sharing a cryptic “the end” message on social media amid her absence from her namesake programme since the dawn of the new year. The Scottish presenter, aged 65, was last seen on ‘Lorraine’ on New Year’s Eve – an episode reportedly pre-recorded.
Today she shared a image with the words ‘The end’. But she was not signalling her depature from her ITV show, but marking the finalisation of her second book.
Lorraine wrote: “The two best and happiest words for a writer to type. Book two completed!! Thanks to everyone who bought BOOK ONE – The Island Swimmer and made it a best seller. The paperback version of that will be released soon. #writing #reading #books #finished #happy #readmorebooks.”
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Colleagues from the programme weren’t shy to show their support in the comments. Fashion journalist Mark Heyes wrote: “Well done. Amazing stuff.”
Dr Amir Khan added: “Congratulations – that’s the best feeling.” Fans also said they couldn’t wait to read her new book.
Lorraine released her first novel – The Island Swimmer – in February last year. It revolves around a lonely character called Evie and the friendship she finds with a group of cold-water swimmers on Orkney. Lorraine has not yet revealed what her second book is called or what it is about.
Speculation about her frequent no-shows on her own programme started swirling after it emerged that Lorraine had appeared in less than 60 per cent of her morning slot on ITV for the past year. It is reported that her attendance is now being tallied weekly by a dedicated social media account named Where is Lorraine?
This particular account, operating under the moniker @LorraineKWatch on Twitter, divulged that her hosting duties barely reached 59.7 per cent in the prior year. As per this data, stand-ins like Ranvir Singh and Christine Lampard have taken the helm for approximately 20 per cent of episodes each within the same timeframe.