“Theatrical artist” Lorraine Kelly is set to put her acting skills to good use after landing a cameo role in Coronation Street.
The breakfast TV host will feature in a storyline with the Platt family on the ITV soap next week, after her performance skills made headlines earlier this year.
Lorraine won a £1.2 million tax battle with HMRC back in March, when a judge ruled that “all parts of [her ITV breakfast show] are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality”.
The judge’s description of her job role meant that payments to her agent were allowed as a tax-deductible expense.
After the story prompted a wave of jokes about her skills as an actress, Lorraine will now feature in Corrie’s special series of episodes next week.
While other big storylines will take centre stage, Lorraine will feature in one of the lighter plots, which sees the Platt family heading off to a holiday park.
Gail is delighted when she hears her heroine is staying at the same place as them, and makes it her mission to track the presenter down.
Gail persuades her daughter Sarah and granddaughter Bethany into chasing Lorraine in a pedalo with chaotic scenes unfolding.
Lorraine was handed a bill made up of almost £900,000 in income tax and more than £300,000 in national insurance contributions in 2016, but managed to successfully avoid having to pay.
From 2012, Lorraine was contracted to present Good Morning Britain predecessor Daybreak and her Lorraine show through the company she runs with her husband, but HMRC argued she was effectively an employee of ITV.
Siding with Lorraine, the judge also concluded the relationship between her and ITV “was a contract for services and not that of employer and employee”, and should be treated as a “self-employed star”.
In her ruling, the judge 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.”
She added: “We should make clear we do not doubt that Ms Kelly is an entertaining lady but the point is that for the time Ms Kelly is contracted to perform live on air she is public ‘Lorraine Kelly’.
“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.”
