Lorraine Kelly in floods of tears over 'really important' career news
For Lorraine Kelly, it feels like just yesterday she was singing her "very special song" Love Is All Around to newborn daughter Rosie. Now, 30 years later, she's singing it again to her granddaughter Billie.
Lorraine has even teamed up with Marti Pellow to re-record this iconic track as a charity single with her Change and Check Choir. With a radiant smile, Lorraine shares that her one-month-old granddaughter is the "bestest thing" and her arrival has spurred her on to raise more money and awareness to defeat breast cancer, so it never poses a threat to her adorable granddaughter Billie.
"It's fantastic," says first-time grandma Lorraine, 64. "I'm going there this afternoon to make sure Rosie gets a wee sleep and Steve, her partner, has a wee walk out in the fresh air and just to do whatever I can. I would live in the garden, in a hut, just to get cuddles. The best thing in the world is just cuddling this wee, tiny, little precious thing."
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"I would love her to grow up in a world where she didn't have to worry about breast cancer. That would be the best thing ever. Maybe in her lifetime she's only one month old. The advances that are happening, the science is incredible."
Lorraine's Change and Check campaign has been ongoing since 2019 when she launched it with her producer Helen Addis, who was diagnosed with grade three invasive breast cancer after discovering a lump during a shower.
Following the launch of a national sticker campaign to educate on breast self-examination, thousands of changing rooms across the country now feature these informative stickers. Impressively, 100 women have reached out to Lorraine and Helen to share that the stickers played a crucial role in detecting their cancer early and initiating treatment.
For Lorraine and Helen, no professional accomplishment could surpass the impact of this initiative. Lorraine shares her pride: "We love what we do it's a wonderful show. But the thing I'm definitely most proud of is this campaign. It has saved lives and it has the potential to save even more. Every single time we do it, we're finding more women and that is making a difference."
In a triumphant moment last year, Joss Stone joined forces with Lorraine's Change and Check Choir to release the chart-topping single Golden.
Lorraine has now teamed up with Marti Pellow after a serendipitous encounter on James Martin's Saturday Morning. The star recounts, "Marti always wanted to do something for this special 30th anniversary of Love Is All Around and it just made sense."
The Change and Check Choir, composed of individuals either undergoing treatment for breast cancer or who are survivors, provided a poignant backdrop for Lorraine's heartfelt singing experience. "This song is very special to me," Lorraine shared. "It's like the soundtrack of everybody's life, isn't it? Thirty years ago my Rosie was born and that was our song in many ways. It's a very special song so I had to be part of it."
Discussing her emotional experience recording the song with the choir, Lorraine revealed, "The whole thing was very, very emotional. Marti said to me, 'When you record something that means something, something will happen in the room.' I didn't know what he meant, but then I did."
"Marti recorded his bit, then he helped us record our bits, then we all sang it together, just with the piano. I burst into tears, as did so many people, because it was just overwhelming. Marti is so kind."
Since Wet Wet Wet released the song in 1994, former lead singer Marti has performed it countless times, but even he was moved to tears singing with the choir.
"If you have a beating heart, why wouldn't you?" Marti questioned. "Especially when you hear the circumstances. Once you come to a certain age in your life, you become very much aware of cancer. There isn't any family that hasn't been touched with that. Whether it's friends or family who have fought the disease or who didn't make it through, you cannot fail to be touched by that."
The recording session was an emotional one as tears were shed in memory of those lost to breast cancer. Lorraine, who had lost her own grandmother Margaret to the disease in 1991, says: "It was for the people that weren't there. Very sadly, my grandmother Margaret died from breast cancer. It was long ago, but you still remember it."
She also found solace and hope in the sense of solidarity within the choir. "We all felt very grateful," Lorraine says. "There was an attitude and there was the fact that we were all doing it together. There was a real sisterhood and an awful lot of kindness and compassion in the room. I wish I could bottle the atmosphere in there and spray it around. It was lovely."
Besides fundraising, Lorraine and Marti wish for their single to elevate the mood of the nation. "When I was a wee boy, I remember my mam singing and me connecting with her in a way that was quite profound," Marti explains. When she was singing she was happy and as a child that spoke to me more than the spoken word did. That's the power of music."
Lorraine agrees: "I do sing around the house," she admitted. "I've been singing all the time to Billie. I think it's really important to sing to kids. I'm not a good singer but I can hold a tune and singing makes you feel better."
