The moment ITV bosses concluded their emergency summit with staff this week – during which they told them of an impending bloodbath of cuts – they called on just one of those present for an individual meeting.

That person, of course, was Lorraine Kelly.

After her three decades with the broadcaster, it was perhaps the most courteous thing they could have done for the Scottish host who has become synonymous with the network.

The task of speaking to Lorraine fell to ITV’s head of daytime Emma Gormley, the former editor of Lorraine’s morning show and her protector for several years. She had the tricky task of delivering the news to Lorraine that they were cutting her show to 30 weeks per year – and that it would be slashed from a full hour to just half an hour.

There is no getting away from the fact that this came as a terrible shock to Lorraine.

‘Nobody was told about these cuts,’ said one insider to me this week. ‘Not a soul knew what was going on, not even Lorraine. Bosses couldn’t tell anyone as they didn’t want it creeping out, so the first she knew of it was when she was told to attend the meeting like everyone else. Then she had her own personal one.’

For her colleagues – some of whom take umbrage at her absence from hosting duties, citing the fact that in 2024 she anchored less than 60 per cent of episodes of her eponymous show – this latest development was a long time coming.

Lorraine Kelly's titular show has been cut to 30 weeks per year and slashed from a full hour to just half an hour 

Many of the upper echelons prefer the host who covers for her, the much-loved Christine Lampard, and Lorraine’s absence had ‘become a joke’ according to one insider.

Since it was revealed on Tuesday that Good Morning Britain would take half of Lorraine’s slot, and thus expand its time on air, I have been inundated with stories from those who have worked with her over the years.

Many staffers expressed relief that she has, finally, lost her power and grip at the channel, and called for the show to be given to Christine Lampard full time.

‘Lorraine’s show didn’t rate well,’ said one source. ‘The show is awful, that’s the wide view at ITV. Getting a job on Lorraine was seen as a stepping stone to get on to This Morning or GMB, for example.’

I can reveal that there is also a significant feeling within some quarters of ITV that Lorraine lost her ‘relatability’ with her down-to-earth viewers back in 2019 after she won an appeal against HMRC over a £1.2million tax bill.

Lorraine, who received the bill as part of HMRC’s crackdown on personal services companies used by a host of stars employed by national broadcasters, argued that she was not an employee of the corporation, but was instead a freelancer, and therefore should not be subject to income tax and national insurance contributions.

As part of her case, Lorraine, 65, claimed that when she hosted her show she was not appearing as herself but was instead performing a role ‘of a friendly, chatty and fun personality’, which required her to present ‘a persona of herself’.

ITV bosses apparently prefer Christine Lampard, who would step up in Lorraine's absence

Lorraine was, of course, thrilled when Judge Jennifer Dean ruled that she could be described as a ‘theatrical artist’ and a ‘self-employed star’ - meaning she was spared that massive tax bill, and payments to her agent were allowed as a tax deductible expense.

Yet despite this victory prompting big celebrations in Lorraine’s camp, in hindsight, one can see it came at a cost.

‘Lorraine has always been viewed as the giggly, down-to-earth host,’ said one ITV insider. ‘She was the one who struggled with her weight, she was the normal working mother, she was not as glamorous as some of her co-stars and that was why she was given a show of her own.

‘She was seen as someone who the viewers had something in common with. But when the tax issue happened, things changed.

‘Yes, she saved handing over a lot of money but at what cost?’

To add salt to the wound, the changes made it clear that GMB’s Susanna Reid is now ITV’s pre-eminent female presenter. A consummate professional who is known for her relentless work ethic, Reid is the only host safe in the forthcoming cuts that will see 220 staff lose their jobs.

Certainly, it’s a spectacular fall from grace for Lorraine, who began her television career in 1984 when she joined TV-am as Scotland Correspondent. She made her name four years later with her reporting on the Lockerbie disaster when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded above the Borders town killing 270 people on board and on the ground.

Lorraine helped launch ITV's GMTV along with Michael Wilson, left, and Eamonn Holmes, right

Her skill caught the attention of London bosses and she was invited to the capital to present TV-am’s Summer Sunday programme and later to be cover anchor for the main weekday programme.

In January 1993, she went on to help launch TV-am’s replacement show, GMTV, presenting alongside Eamonn Holmes, and rapidly endeared herself further to viewers.

In 2010 she was rewarded with her own show, and to cement her value to the channel, it was named after her. She was a part of the furniture at ITV. And she knew it.

Lorraine wasn’t the only show to face the executioner’s scythe this week. Loose Women, the long-standing panel show which last year celebrated its 25th anniversary, was cut from 52 weeks per year to 30, though its running time will remain the same at 60 minutes.

This Morning, whose presenters include Cat Deeley, Ben Shephard, Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, remains untouched.

Some insiders insist that, despite the drama surrounding Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby’s departures, the programme is still seen as the jewel in ITV’s crown and is regarded as a ‘success story’.

However, others have divulged that the chiefs will be ‘coming’ for the show at a later date.

Other developments saw a shake-up at GMB – the programme will now be made by ITN, with staff, and probably presenters, merged.

All in all, the changes, which are the biggest in the network’s history, are part of a dramatic cost-saving exercise that will begin in January.

The humiliation is profound for Lorraine, who recently became a grandmother after her daughter Rosie gave birth to a little girl named Billie.

And what makes a terrible situation even worse is that was her protector, Emma Gormley, was the one tasked with telling her. Gormley had shielded her for so many years amid tumbling viewing figures – which peaked at 1.1m a day in 2010, the year of the show’s launch.

It proved that Gormley herself appears to have been sidelined since the Schofield scandal, which saw him ousted from This Morning amid a fall out with co-star Holly. Gormley lost a power battle with ITV’s new director of news Andrew Dagnall and last year the channel’s head of entertainment Katie Rawcliffe was made director of entertainment and daytime – swiping some of Gormley’s role from her.

‘Emma ran Lorraine and that meant that she had this loyalty towards it and wanted to keep it going,’ said a former associate of the women. ‘Lorraine was the only show Emma produced before she was promoted to being in charge of all of the daytime roster.

‘But now Emma’s power appears to have been taken away from her and boom, Lorraine has gone.’

Rumours are now swirling at ITV that Lorraine will quit altogether – perhaps even deciding to retire.

‘It is mortifying for Lorraine,’ said a friend of hers. ‘Imagine after all of those years having your show decimated in such a way.

‘She’s a grandmother now, she’s 65, she could get work elsewhere and knows that. So now ITV are waiting on tenterhooks to see if she will decide to walk altogether.’

And would there be many tears shed?

‘Absolutely not,’ said one ITV employee.