Lorraine Kelly has revealed she was once rejected and mocked for her accent by a former BBC boss.
The 60-year-old Scottish presenter claims her boss called her accent “offensive” after putting herself forward for a reporter role back in the 1980s.
The best-loved telly host, who is known for her strong Glaswegian accent, later went on to land the job at BBC Scotland.
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What happened to Lorraine Kelly?
Speaking on the Blank podcast, Lorraine said: “I went from East Kilbride News to BBC Scotland for a while – only for a year – and then I joined TV-am as their Scottish correspondent.
“When I went to work for BBC Scotland as a researcher, I got called into the boss’s office and I thought he was going to give me a job as a reporter, because that’s what I really wanted to do.
“But he told me my accent was terrible – my accent was offensive, my Glasgow accent.”
She went on: “So when I got told that, I just applied for a job at TV-am, and luckily the boss was an Australian and didn’t really care how people spoke.”
Lorraine later explained she’s glad there are different accents on TV today.
The ITV star added: “That was BBC Scotland, but that was back then when things were different.
“Nobody spoke like me or Eamonn [Holmes, Irish TV presenter], or lovely Ant and Dec, nobody spoke like that.
“Everybody spoke a sort of quite affected, posh way… but that’s all changed now, and I think for the better. I definitely do.”
Entertainment Daily has contacted the BBC for comment.
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Lorraine’s incredible TV career
Despite the early comment about her accent, the lovable presenter has since went on to host GMTV and This Morning.
Lorraine started her career as a local newspaper reporter in East Kilbride but progressed rapidly to national television.
Last year, the star celebrated her 35 years in broadcasting with a special edition of Lorraine.
At the time, the TV favourite admitted: “I am still learning every day and I have the same enthusiasm and passion for the job as I did all those years ago.”
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