Lorraine Kelly reveals why she's skipping the National Television Awards this year

Lorraine Kelly has candidly spoken about her decision to give this year's National Television Awards a miss, attributing it to feeling less confident. The seasoned 64 year old Scottish presenter, who is usually a fixture at the glitzy event, opened up about her apprehensions on her show, admitting that the prospect of facing the red carpet was daunting.

In a chat with Holly Matthews, who appeared on the programme to talk about her new publication "Find Your Confidence: The no-nonsense guide to self-belief," Lorraine disclosed her unexpected decision. The recently turned grandmother said: "It's the NTAs and normally I would be going to that and I would usually go."

"I don't know what it is but I'm not feeling confident enough to go. That whole red carpet thing is sometimes really scary."

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Holly Matthews, a confidence coach and ex-actress with credits in Byker Grove and Casualty, at 39 years old, related to Lorraine's feelings, commenting: "Yes, you have all the lights on you. And every day, men and women can feel as though they're being watched, and that everybody is scrutinising them, and that you're not good enough."

She continued: "But in that moment, it's all about turning that outwards and focusing on conversations that you have with people and what's going on around you. We're all in our own heads worrying about our own stuff.", reports Bristol Live.

Lorraine Kelly, often seen at the National Television Awards, has not been nominated this year, according to the Mirror. However, her ITV colleagues from Loose Women and This Morning are in the running for Best Daytime show.

Alison Hammond is in the spotlight with a nomination for Best Presenter for her work on This Morning, but she's up against strong contenders such as Bradley Walsh and Stacey Solomon, while Ant and Dec have secured the award 21 times. Lorraine, who opted out of attending tonight's ceremony, discussed confidence with Holly Willoughby.

Holly advised: "Body confidence can feel like too big a leap. I like to focus on body acceptance, and that can be just accepting firstly where you're at, focusing on what your body can do, what it has done, all of the good that your body has done. Have fun with it."

"The next thing is asking for what you want. This is something people can start today, when people are not super confident they tend to not ask for what they want."

"My litmus test is a very British example. When people are asked how do you have your cup of tea, if someone says to me 'however it comes', I know they accept a lot of things in their lives 'however it comes'. Instead, be specific, what cup do you want? A nice pink or white one? How dark do you have it? Be really specific. When you do that, guess what happens? You get a lovely cup of tea."

Lorraine excitedly added: "That's how to get exactly what you want. And that example could apply to everything."

Holly noted: "Really embrace your weird, your unique quirks, the unique aspects of you, rather than seeing them as a negative thing."

Reflecting on her personal journey, Holly shared: "Sometimes in my life, from being very young, I was told I talked too much, I was too loud, too 'this' too 'that' so I developed this idea that I was too much and I needed to minimise those things - I saw it as a negative quality, something weird about me."

Promoting a positive spin on self-perceived imperfections, she continued: "The 'worst' things are often the best things - my 'talks too muchness' is why I'm sat here! ".

Discussing the art of accepting praise, Lorraine said: "You talk about when people compliment you in your book, and I do this - just accept it."

Encouraging an attitude of gratitude, Holly advised: "That's a really good thing we can do today - instead of passing back the compliment and saying all the terrible things about me. Just say thank you - and that will be incredibly uncomfortable for some people."

Concluding with a tip for everyday life, Holly recommended: "Lastly, celebrate the daily wins - it could be that you got dressed this morning or you made your bed, or sent that email you've been putting off. The more we celebrate the things we do well, in the moments when things are difficult for us we can look back on those and recognise and tell our brains we're pretty good people."

In a tragic turn of events, Holly's husband Ross passed away from a rare brain tumour at the young age of 32 in 2017. Since then, she has committed herself to self-improvement work, with the goal of helping others boost their confidence.