Lorraine Kelly relishes quiz show host challenge – and even has her first catchphrase

She’s queen of breakfast TV and now she wants to extend her empire to the realm of quiz shows.

We’ve been waking up with Lorraine Kelly since the 80s. There was TV-am, Good Morning Britain, GMTV and now the presenter has her own shows.

But next month, the 59-year-old will become a quiz show host for the first time on STV’s The Cash Machine.

And she’s hoping her brand of warm-hearted, friendly chat will help contestants.

Lorraine said: “I’m totally on their side, just like their mum, aunty or big sister.

“I just concentrated all my energies on making contestants feel as comfortable as possible and on trying to help them not to be too nervous.

“I want them to win and to have had a really good experience.”

In a TV career that’s stretched across 30 years, it’s not just being a quiz show host that’s new for Lorraine.

“I’ve got my own catchphrase, which is a first,” she laughed.

“If you want to win, you have to crack the pin.”

And, yes, she’s hoping people will shout it out to her on the street.

Not that she’s in Scotland any more. After years of commuting to London for work while staying in her beloved adopted home of Dundee, Lorraine, who was born in Glasgow and raised in East Kilbride, sold up and now lives in a village outside London with husband Steve.

One of the reasons for the switch was that their daughter Rosie, 25, moved to Singapore.

At the moment, Lorraine, Steve and Rosie are on a luxury break in India.

While most of us would chill out by the pool, gym bunny Lorraine has been doing yoga.

She even posted a saucy snap of herself in a plunging white bikini, with the caption: “Not doing badly for 59”.

It caused a sensation, with her breakfast TV holiday stand-in Christine Lampard comparing her to former glamour girl Linda Lusardi, who happened to be a guest on the show.

Talking about Lorraine’s picture making the newspapers, Christine said to Linda: “You were the original Page 3 girl, we know that, but Lorraine is taking it over this morning.”

Lorraine did take time out from her hols to angrily crush rumours that she was leaving ITV to sell keto diet pills.

She said: “Could not be more fake. Totally fed-up with these chancers – hope people realise it’s a load of old b*****ks.”

Fans will know Lorraine’s lean physique is all down to hard work at the gym. Part of the reason for getting fit was to feel better after a horror horse fall in 2012.

The horse’s hoof missed a main artery in her right thigh by millimetres but she still lost about three pints of blood and had to have “hundreds of stitches”.

Over the last three years, and with guidance from fitness guru Maxine Jones – her collaborator on DVD Living to the Max – Lorraine has dropped from a size 14 to a 10, thanks to changing her diet and doing workouts.

Exercise also helped her deal with anxiety brought on by the menopause.

Lorraine said: “Exercise can help, even with very difficult mental health problems. You take control of a little bit of you and that’s good.”

Whether it’s doing an exercise DVD in her 50s or happily posting snaps of herself in a bikini, Lorraine is showing women – and men – that you’re never too old to do anything.

A case in point is the new quiz where contestants play to answer questions and access a PIN number for show centrepiece, the ATM.

Part of the reason Lorraine was keen to do the show was because it meant coming back to Scotland to work.

She has hosted STV’s annual Children’s Appeal since 2011 and always loves heading north.

Lorraine said: “I travelled home every weekend for over 30 years and I still go home all the time.

“It’s where I am happiest and where I am most relaxed.

“I’m very lucky to get the best of both worlds, working in London, living in a lovely village a few miles outside the city and also going back to Glasgow and Dundee as often as possible.”

Lorraine was also attracted by the idea of the quiz. She said: “It’s very different, totally addictive and the questions are really challenging, interesting and creative.

“You need to have a good grasp of general knowledge but also be able to think outside the box.

“It’s a quick-paced show full of suspense. I really enjoyed having fun with the contestants.”

Lorraine obviously knows all about TV presenting. But she has more strings to her bow.

She has appeared as herself in Coronation Street and River City. And in April, she was in Scot Squad, sending herself up as having a vendetta against Piers Morgan.

Lorraine has been on the other side of quizzes, competing on the celebrity versions of Tipping Point and The Chase.

She said: “I’m better at crosswords. My general knowledge is OK, especially anything to do with Star Trek, Antarctica and my hero Sir Ernest Shackleton. I really enjoy a good pub quiz.

“I’m not sure if I would make it through to the final of The Cash Machine. You need to know a lot about so many things and not be afraid to take a risk.”

It’s a busy year for Lorraine. As well as trying her hand at the quiz, she turns 60 in November and she will be a celebrity judge on the UK version of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

She said: “It was hilarious. I had such good fun. I am in awe of every single one of the queens.”

Takes one to know one.

• The Cash Machine starts on Sunday, September 1, on STV.