Staff on Lorraine fear its much-loved host might choose to quit if the standard of the show falls due to sweeping ITV cuts – as the channel’s employees are left shell-shocked and in tears over the news

Staff on Lorraine fear its much-loved host could quit the show after it bore the brunt of massive ITV cuts.

The presenter has been left devastated by the scale of job losses set to hit the programme which is set to be slashed from an hour to 30minutes. It will also now only air for 30 weeks out of 52.

But a source said: “There are genuine fears among staff that Lorraine may decide to walk if the quality of the show they are putting out declines. It’s hard to see how standards won’t fall….and there are questions over whether Lorraine will want to be associated with that. Lorraine and her team are perfectionists – it’s why the show is loved by so many.”

The source said the move was a “kick in the teeth” especially given ITV was crowing this week about the show amassing its highest ratings for four years.

A second insider added: “This is a presenter who has just come back from having an operation, has won a BAFTA, is enjoying record ratings….and then ITV show their appreciation by yanking her off air half the year. Staff are beside themselves, and have been in tears constantly. It doesn’t make any sense given the trajectory the show is on.”

Lorraine Kelly: Staff are worried about her future

Altogether, ITV is slashing 220 jobs, as it aims for cost savings of up to £50million.

Staff fear BAFTA winner Lorraine may walk if the standard of the show falls (Image: Getty Images for BAFTA) 

Insiders reported “collective devastation” after being ordered to a meeting of all daytime staff yesterday to be told that almost half of the 450 jobs in ITV Daytime were being cut.

The overhaul will see the money saved being “reinvested” into other programming with a focus on drama, sport, entertainment and reality programming.

From January 2026, Loose Women will also adopt a “seasonal” schedule of 30 weeks a year, a loss of more than 10 weeks on the current schedule but a return to the pattern it held for more than a decade before 2016.

ITV’s news provider ITN is to take over production of Good Morning Britain from next year as part of the major revamp of the channel’s long-running daytime brands. GMB will be re-homed within ITN’s Gray’s Inn Road headquarters and be extended by half an hour for 30 weeks of the year (6am – 9.30am), and by an hour for the remaining 22 weeks when Lorraine is now off air (6am – 10am).

The changes aim to allow GMB to benefit from “the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins”. The extra hours each week will be filled with extra regional news, investigations and analysis of the biggest stories of the day.

Staff reacted with widespread dismay to the huge number of job cuts. The current Good Morning Britain team was particularly hard hit – of the 133 employees who currently make the early-bird magazine show, hosted by Susanna Reid, Richard Madeley and Ed Balls, just 38 will make the move to ITN.

An insider said: “The devastation among the staff is palpable after the announcement. To say it blindsided them would be an understatement.

“There had been whispers going round for some time over a merger between ITV News and Good Morning Britain, but no indication that the Daytime shows would be affected.