‘As you get older, you shed friends’: Lorraine Kelly talks evolving friendships and the importance of removing people from your circle who ‘bring you down’
The presenter gets candid about only surrounding yourself with people who care about you and not being afraid to end friendships that no longer bring you joy
Despite experiencing a turbulent year with ITV budget cuts meaning her long-running daytime TV show now only airs for 30 minutes, for just 30 weeks of the year instead of all year, Lorraine Kelly is definitely not slowing down.
The presenter hosted the Channel 4 travel series Lorraine Kelly's Norwegian Odyssey earlier this year, and her latest novel, The Island Secret, a follow up to her debut The Island Swimmer, has been flying off the shelves.
Lorraine's new novel has a strong theme of female friendships, and the presenter has some very candid advice about only surrounding yourself with people who really care about you, and why a friendship cull is sometimes required.
In conversation with Platinum magazine, Lorraine says it's natural to find friendships naturally drop off as people age. "As you get older, you shed friends because of distance, work, kids," she says, adding that it's a good idea to be "curious" about making new friends.
"My mum joined a book club and is learning German at 85 and has made lots of friends – what have you got to lose?" she asks, continuing, "You will learn something and you might meet people with shared interests."
While the presenter encourages others to build their community in the way her mum has, she's also a strong believer in deliberately cutting ties with friends who no longer bring you joy, if they don't fade away naturally.
"We all know people who are always on transmit and not receive, people that tell you everything but don’t really care about you," she says, explaining that "it’s important to almost do a spring clean and get rid of those who actually bring you down."
The presenter knows this can be "hard," but reiterates the importance of being able to "take care of yourself as well."
However, she stands firm that she won't be including a special person in her life as someone she calls a friend - her daughter Rosie.
"I always say, she’s my daughter and not my friend," Lorraine explains, sharing, "I know there’s a lot of women that say their children are their best friends – Rosie has got friends."
"You might think they tell you everything, but they don’t, and you shouldn’t want them to either," she says. The presenter asserts she is Rosie's "biggest cheerleader and supporter," but she needs to "paddle her own canoe."
Clearly advocating for people to bring as much joy into their lives as possible through those they surround themselves with, Lorraine has now focussed her chat show on doing the same thing.
"In this crazy world, we will be a wee half-hour oasis of fun, joy and light," she explains, adding, "I’ve done the journalism thing. I’ve done the covering disasters, I’m now at the stage of my life where I just think I want a straight up wee bit of fun and joy."
Proving that retirement is definitely not imminent, Lorraine concludes that she's taking lessons from David Attenborough.
"That’ll be me, 100 years old, still doing travel shows, still getting up in the morning to kick off with a fashion segment – I don’t see myself ever retiring," she says.
