Lorraine Kelly has been ‘in character as Lorraine Kelly’ and people can’t stop making jokes about it

Lorraine Kelly has shocked the world of morning TV by revealing she is a “theatrical artist” playing a friendly TV presenter, also called Lorraine Kelly.

The news came after Kelly won a legal battle over a £1.2m tax bill with ITV.

In the case, Kelly argued that she was not employed by ITV but was a freelancer instead, which meant she was exempt from a national insurance and income tax bill.

A judge agreed, accepting that Kelly was a "self-employed star" and saying that she appeared on her TV show in character.

Judge Jennifer Dean said:

We did not accept that Ms Kelly simply appeared as herself - we were satisfied that Ms Kelly presents a persona of herself, she presents herself as a brand and that is the brand ITV sought when engaging her.

All parts of the show are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality.

Her performance as the public “Lorraine Kelly” is key to her show apparently.

Judge Dean added:

She may not like the guest she interviews, she may not like the food she eats, she may not like the film she viewed but that is where the performance lies.

Naturally, people on Twitter weren’t convinced by the explanation.

Then people started to wonder – “Wait a minute, I don’t like the people I work with… does that mean I’m a theatrical artist as well?”

Unfortunately not - the row was mainly about whether Kelly was working freelance for ITV.

In short, the issue was whether she was ITV’s employee or if they were just paying for her services.

Someone’s employment status – for example, whether they are an employee or self-employed – affects how much tax they have to pay.

People on Twitter still had questions though…

Some people were angry with Kelly

A spokesperson for the UK’s tax office said they were “disappointed” with the ruling.

HT: HuffPost

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