Lorraine Kelly reveals difficult conversation she had with daughter Rosie after she returned from Singapore
LORRAINE Kelly has revealed the difficult conversation she had with daughter Rosie when she returned to London after three-and-a-half years living in Singapore.
The popular broadcaster, 61, exclusively told The Sun that it was "a shame" she had to remind Rosie, 27, of the dangers that women in the UK face, but insisted the talk was vitally important.
She said: "I had to have a conversation I didn’t like having with her, which was to say 'look, you’re not in Singapore anymore. You can’t walk home on your own.'"
Singapore is considered to be the safest city in Asia for women, with harsh punishments keeping crime rates low.
While London and other major cities in the UK are also safe for the most part, the recent murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa have sparked calls for police reform and government action to protect women.
In both of those tragic cases, there was nothing more either woman could have done to limit the dangers they faced; Sarah dressed in colourful clothing and had a phone to hand when she was kidnapped by Met police officer Wayne Couzens, while Sabina walked through a well lit area popular with joggers on her way to meet a friend when she was attacked and killed.
Lorraine warned her daughter to be more "street smart" when she returned home last year, urging her to watch out for drinks being spiked and pickpockets.
"I’m not just talking about London," she said. "I'm talking about every major city in the UK. You do have to be careful. That was in a way quite a sad thing to have to do but absolutely vital, which is a great shame.
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"It’s a conversation you shouldn’t have to have, but you do. I think what’s been so eye opening, particularly for men, is if I was to walk down the street you have your mobile phone in one hand and your keys in the other so you’ve got something to protect yourself. It’s almost like you don’t think about it.
"If you live in a city you have to be really careful. I always say to Rosie when she goes out 'be like the marines; no one gets left behind. Never ever leave your pals. Always take care of one another'."
Lorraine and Rosie have formed a formidable media partnership over the past year appearing on Celebrity Gogglebox and launching podcast What If?, which recently returned for a second series.
The project was Rosie's brainchild and sees the mum and daughter duo explore a series of 'what if' questions with celeb guests including Larry Lamb, KSI and Strictly's Shirley Ballas.
Over the course of the conversations the pair discover what life could have looked like for the guests had they made different choices.
Lorraine said: "When she [Rosie] came home, she came up with the idea What If? It’s a really great way to start off a conversation and doing an interview in a different way.
"You do get some really good stories that you might not have got in a straightforward interview. It’s a joy working with her, but it’s so lovely to get a long time with someone. I love what I do, but this morning we had Sting on and I only had eight minutes with him, whereas if I did the podcast I would have an hour. You get much deeper and have a good laugh."
Lorraine has been a mainstay of daytime TV for nearly three decades, surviving ITV's numerous breakfast reboots from GMTV to Daybreak and now Good Morning Britain.
For the most part, she has found the TV industry to promote equality with a near 50-50 split of male and female presenters and a focus on talent rather than looks.
It’s a conversation you shouldn’t have to have, but you do.
Lorraine Kelly
And she has the utmost respect for her female ITV co-stars who have weathered a particularly turbulent year with aplomb.
Unflappable Susanna Reid's ability to effortlessly present alongside a host of different faces after Piers Morgan's exit in March left her seriously impressed.
Lorraine said: "The person I most admire is Susanna. She’s such a brilliant broadcaster. She keeps it all together. It’s quite difficult to work with different people all the time. She just gets on with it total professional. She’s funny smart as a whip and a I’m a huge, huge fan."
She called Ranvir Singh "absolutely fantastic" and also hailed "amazing" Kate Garraway.
"Kate is such an optimist and honestly, talking about someone I really admire, what an incredible woman she is," said Lorraine. "I don’t know how she does it, she’s absolutely remarkable. She makes us feel better."
ITV has been overseen by CEO Carolyn McCall since 2018 when she became the station's first female boss.
Having interviewed her fair share of pop stars, Lorraine would like to see more female music industry chiefs to tackle inequality in the music industry.
She said: "There’s total sexism in the music industry, of course there is. And it’s only when we get women in positions of power that will change."
Citing female megastar Adele as one of the few women in music with the power to call their own shots, she said: "Look at the power that Adele has, which is brilliant. I love the fact she went online and played a little bit of her thing, and you know the music company will be having fits, but she’s like 'no, it’s my music I’m gonna play it and when we get women like that who are in charge of their careers."
There’s total sexism in the music industry.
Lorraine Kelly
Little Mix's 2018 split from Simon Cowell's label Syco also drew praise from Lorraine, who was impressed by their courage to stand up to the mogul for what they felt was right.
"I think Little Mix have done incredibly," she said. "They had real balls. They got rid of Simon Cowell, that did just not happen. Normally it was Simon Cowell who would sign somebody, make them do an album of covers and then get rid of them. Little Mix just went, 'we’re not having it. It’s not happening'. And they got rid of him and did their own thing. I’m sure they’d still be very grateful to the show and everything.
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"I think they’ve been a real force for good Little Mix, they’ve show real courage and determination. I feel very sorry they’ve had to have all this crap online. It drives me crazy."
To listen to Lorraine and Rosie’s Beauty Pie sponsored podcast ‘What If’ head to
