Lorraine Kelly caused a stir at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards, taking a priceless jibe at Boris Johnson.
The prime minister appeared not to know who Lorraine Kelly was in a recent interview with Good Morning Britain (GMB).
After host Susanna Reid concluded their conversation with: “Lorraine is waiting… Thank you very much indeed,” the prime minister responded: “Who’s Lorraine?”, seemingly unaware that Good Morning Britain is followed by Kelly’s daily breakfast programme.
Reid simply replied: “Lorraine’s a legend”.
Kelly affirmed her legendary status at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday (8 May).
Presenting the award for Best News Coverage, she said: “Hello, and a special hello to Boris. I’m Lorraine. Lovely to see you.”
Downing Street previously defended the Johnson over the gaffe, saying: “The prime minister wasn’t fully across ITV’s daytime line-up this morning, but you’ll appreciate he has a number of issues to deal with”, according to the Mirror.
Kelly insisted that she was amused by Johnson’s remarks, saying during the episode of Lorraine that followed the GMB interview: “Why should he know who I am? I mean he’s busy in the mornings, he wouldn’t be watching us although he could learn a lot as you know.”
Kelly is known for being a proud LGBT+ ally, having backed the trans community during a clash with trans-exclusionary philosophy professor, Kathleen Stock, who stepped down from her position at the University of Sussex after a series of student-led peaceful protests against her ‘gender-critical’ views.
In a 2021 interview with Stock on Lorraine, Kelly declared her support for the trans community, saying: “I do happen to believe that trans women are women and trans men are men.”
“There’s this whole thing around ‘cancel culture’,” she continued, “but you’ve not really been cancelled, because you walked away from your job. You did resign.”
However, she supported continued discourse about trans rights, telling Stock: “I don’t agree with everything that you’re saying at all, but that’s OK because we can talk about it.”
Elsewhere at the BAFTA TV Awards, the cast of It’s a Sin went home empty-handed, sparking disappointment among fans.
Ncuti Gatwa also made his first appearance since being announced as the new star of Doctor Who.