The real Lorraine Kelly: I go home and moan about my day

Lorraine Kelly has spoken out for the first time about not always being the happy person viewers see on TV.

The famously cheery ITV presenter made headlines in March when she avoided paying £1.2 million in tax, after a judge ruled she’s performing “the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality” during her morning appearances on ITV rather than appearing as herself.

Kelly, 59, told BBC News: "I know people had a good old laugh about that, and that's fine! But we all do that to a certain degree in our work. I mean, there are days that I go into work and I don't feel 100% but I'm not going to sit there and go 'poor me, poor me.'

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"I've got the best job in the world, but, like every single human being on earth, you don't feel great all the time. But, you go in, and it doesn't matter what job you do, driving a bus or whatever it is, we've all got that kind of persona. You go home to your loved one and you go, 'Oh God I've had a terrible day!' But you don't do that while you're in your work, you're professional and you have to be."

The breakfast TV presenter – who is celebrating 35 years on screens – also revealed how taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat the menopause, saved her “sunny disposition”.

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Kelly said: "Five or six years ago, I suddenly felt really overwhelmed and anxious, and I'm not an anxious person. I'm somebody that just gets on with it, and I've usually got a sunny disposition, and I don't know where that went. All the life drained out of me, and I felt very flat.

"I wasn't sleeping, and I felt tired, but I spoke to Dr Hilary [Jones, her show's resident doctor], and he said 'it's the menopause'. And I went on HRT, which I know doesn't work for everyone, but for me was an absolute game changer.”