Working-class people are being 'left behind' in TV roles, claims presenter Lorraine Kelly

14 March 2025, 19:32

Lorraine Kelly has said working-class people are being "left behind" in TV roles, as broadcasters try to combat issues of diversity.

Kelly, 65, the host of ITV talk show Lorraine, comes from a Scottish working-class background.

She became a journalist at a local newspaper, then worked for the BBC and later became a reporter at TV-am.

Kelly was asked by Times Radio presenter Cathy Newman, for The Ladder show and podcast, if there was a focus in the entertainment industry on gender and racial diversity, but less so on socioeconomic diversity.

She said: "I couldn't agree with you more. Don't get me wrong, I think it's absolutely right that everybody gets a chance.

"It shouldn't matter what colour you are, what age you are, all of these things. It's all about can you do the job? Do you deserve a chance?

"Let's level the playing field. But I do think sometimes working-class people get left behind. It's almost like, and it's so silly because, the majority of my viewers and my readers are working-class people.

"Not all of them, but a lot of them are and their voice is really, really important.

"It's kind of like taking the nation's pulse in a way and it does worry me that that doesn't happen. Which is why I really try to always give encouragement to anybody, but particularly working-class kids... all over the country."

Last year, at the TV Baftas, Kelly called for action to help people from working-class backgrounds break into the industry, and more opportunities outside London, as she collected a special award.

She also said: "I don't think they would have the same opportunities that I had, and a lot of it is financial. When I went down to London and they gave me the job... it's so expensive. It's so obvious, isn't it?

"You're cutting an awful lot of people out. I honestly wouldn't have been able to afford to live in London, but for the fact that TV-am helped me."

Kelly has previously said she was told she would never make it on the screen because of her Scottish accent.

Now one of television's most recognisable faces, Kelly was told about her Bafta award live on air, by Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid during her weekday show.

She was recognised for her "outstanding contribution" throughout her 40-year career in broadcasting, which included covering the Lockerbie bombing, since she joined TV-am in 1984.

Read more: Reeves insists ‘broken’ benefits system must be reformed despite fears of Cabinet revolt

Read more: Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada

At the weekend, BBC chairman Samir Shah told the Times the broadcaster needs "more variety" and "diversity of thought" as well as more staff who are "northern working-class".

Fewer than 10% of people from the TV, video, radio and photography sectors were from working-class backgrounds in 2023, according to the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.

At the 2024 Edinburgh TV Festival, former Countdown star Carol Vorderman and This Is England playwriter and Sherwood creator James Graham called for more working-class stories and people in the industry.