Lorraine Kelly has urged broadcasters to safeguard opportunities for working-class voices in the media, arguing that hearing only elite opinions can hinder progress. She spoke on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, where she also discussed ITV’s plan to cut her Lorraine programme to 30-minute editions shown for 30 weeks a year from 2026. The presenter, who has appeared on national television since the mid-1980s, said: ‘Things have to change’, describing the changes as ‘seismic’.

Kelly said the most upsetting aspect of the reorganisation is the breakup of the ‘great team’ she works with. ‘We’re hoping that we can save as many jobs as we can, that’s the aim right now,’ she said, before adding: ‘but you know what, it’s just the world we live in.’

She recalled being told she would not be offered a BBC job because of her working-class Scottish accent, a moment she said crushed her; she later secured a role at TV-am after an Australian boss did not recognise her accent. Kelly told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne that she worries about working-class people missing out on opportunities, noting that while diversity is discussed, many people from less advantaged backgrounds remain excluded because they cannot afford to relocate to London for work. ‘You have to hear these voices, because that’s what our country is made up of, and if you’re only going to hear elite opinions we’re never going to get anywhere’, she warned, adding that those who shout loudest on social media can dominate the discourse. She also recalled applying for every BBC job at the start of her career — including a farming correspondent role in Aberdeen — saying: ‘I wouldn’t have known one end of a cow from another.’