BAFTA has announced that award-winning presenter, journalist and author Lorraine Kelly CBE will be presented with a BAFTA Special Award at the forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises on Sunday 12 May 2024, at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
The BAFTA Special Award is one of BAFTA’s highest honours, recognising an outstanding contribution to film, games or television. Lorraine Kelly was told of the news for the first time by presenter Susanna Reid live on air during her BAFTA-nominated weekday show on ITV, Lorraine, which she has hosted for thirty years.
Previous BAFTA Television Special Award recipients include David Olusoga, Nicola Shindler, Clare Balding, Idris Elba, John Motson, Henry Normal, Nick Fraser, Lenny Henry, Delia Smith and Cilla Black.
2024 marks four-decades of Lorraine Kelly’s broadcasting career, as a hugely significant presence on daytime television. Lorraine has reported on every notable event in recent modern history, from Princess Diana’s death, President Trump’s presidential win, The Queen’s death and The King’s Coronation. Her interviewees have included Prime Ministers, Hollywood luminaries, Oscar winners, Olympic athletes and members of Royalty. She has tackled sensitive topics in factual shows and raised awareness of numerous important health issues on her daytime shows, most notably her Change + Check breast cancer awareness campaign, and is beloved by the public for her candid presenting style and charisma on-screen.
Lorraine Kelly CBE said: “Finding out on-air this morning was a massive surprise – what an honour to be the recipient of the BAFTA Special Award. A huge thanks to everybody I’ve worked with on screen and behind the scenes over the years, the people who make Daytime TV are very special people. Now I have to go and look for a showstopping frock to wear to the BAFTAs on 12th May!”
Hilary Rosen, Chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee, said: “Lorraine Kelly has been a sparkling presence on our screens for over 40 years and is one of the most well-known and adored stars of Television. On ITV’s Lorraine she displays a mastery of disarming guests with her warmth and relaxed approach and always manages to make the daily demands of live broadcasting look easy. She combines quick intelligence with genuine empathy, tackling tricky subjects with skill and sensitivity and uses her platform to raise awareness of things that really matter. Lorraine has a deep and genuine connection with her audience and her longevity speaks to the unique importance of daytime television and its staying power. We are honoured to present Lorraine the BAFTA Special Award at our forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises on 12th May.”
The BAFTA Special Award will be presented to Lorraine Kelly as part of a special commemoration of her ongoing legacy at the BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises – the biggest night in the television calendar. This year’s Awards ceremony will be hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan on 12 May and will recognise the incredible quality and variety of television broadcast in 2023. The full list of nominees can be found here.
Lorraine Kelly’s Biography
Lorraine began her career in journalism at 17 as a trainee reporter on the East Kilbride News. She made her debut on breakfast television in 1984 as TV-AM’s Scotland Correspondent, and was the first journalist on the scene of the Pan Am flight disaster in Lockerbie. In January 1993, Kelly helped launch GMTV by presenting a range of programmes. 1994 then saw her anchor her own show on ITV, as she still does today.
Alongside her work in broadcasting, Lorraine Kelly is a Sunday Times bestselling author and started many campaigns around women’s issues. She has raised important issues around the menopause; in 2015, she started a body confidence campaign, is an outspoken advocate of HRT and has opened up on her miscarriage and her anxiety struggles. Her programme’s campaigns have also saved lives, most notably her Change + Check breast cancer awareness campaign, which resulted in more than 80 women contacting the show to say they got an earlier diagnosis of breast cancer as a result of seeing the programme.
Lorraine was awarded a CBE in 2020 in recognition of the importance of her broadcasting, journalism and charity work. This followed her receiving an OBE from the Queen in 2012 for her services to charity and the Armed Services.
Picture Credit: © BAFTA/Oliver Mayhall
Pippa Considine
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