Christine Lampard still has to pinch herself when she steps in on ‘Lorraine’.
The 41-year-old TV presenter has once again taken over the ITV morning show’s hosting duties from Lorraine Kelly, who is on a summer break, and despite covering for the 60-year-old host before, she still has to convince herself she is not dreaming.
She said: "I still pinch myself when I’m doing Lorraine’s show. It’s Lorraine Kelly! She has worked on the telly my whole life. She’s a complete stalwart of television, she’s the ‘Boss Lady’. To think she, hopefully, feels like I’m in any way up to scratch to keep things ticking along until she comes back again, means a great deal to me.
"I admire her greatly. I never get bored of it. I never say, ‘I’m going into work today’, I say, ‘I’m doing ‘Lorraine’ today or ‘Loose Women’.’ I can’t quite get the word ‘work’ out and that’s a real blessing if you find something in your life you enjoy, you never have to work a day again. "
Christine has stepped in for Lorraine from today (20.07.20) to August 7th, and she will also have a two-week stint from August 24th until Lorraine’s return from her summer break on September 1st, with Andi Peters taking the reins in between.
The star has also given "full credit" to Lorraine for her work during the coronavirus pandemic.
She added: I am looking forward to it. Everything has been up in the air, I didn’t know what studio we would be in or anything like that. So, I was sort of on standby for anything. I’ve been quite relaxed about it because the Lorraine family are all very friendly and close. I know they’ve done a brilliant job of making it feel as normal as possible and I can’t wait to see them all.
"You have to give Lorraine full credit, because she has found a way of dealing with everything and motored on as she always does. She has been fantastic over the past months. She hasn’t had a day off, so this holiday is very well deserved. I’m sure she’ll be enjoying herself."