The Conservative party leadership battle was always going to be a messy one – but who would have thought Esther McVey vs Lorraine Kelly would be the row to dominate the first two days?
It all started on Monday morning when Lorraine took a Mariah Carey-esque swipe at McVey, stating she did not remember if they got on while working at ITV together during the ’90s.
The low-key shade understandably sent the internet into a spin and McVey even found herself having to address the situation that afternoon, which is when she claimed to have been promoted over Lorraine back in the day.
But on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, Lorraine – or the actress who plays her, we’re not entirely sure – hit back.
During a short interview with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Lorraine explained: “There is no battle, I’ve had my own show since 1992, she only joined later, so I don’t know what she’s on about.
“As for sharing dressing rooms, it was just a little room that we shared, it wasn’t like a proper dressing room.
“I’ll be genuinely honest, I don’t remember her, my show was completely different.”
Clearly feeling less diplomatic than she was yesterday, Lorraine then turned her attention to politics and criticised McVey for stating that parents should be allowed to stop their children learning about same-sex relationships in school.
She said: “What it was, I just got sick to the back teeth of the political atmosphere.
“And I strongly disagree with her policies on LGBT rights and I just thought to myself, I’ve had enough of this.
“We’ve had two and a half years of people going round in circles and not sorting Brexit out.
“And now we’ve got a state in Britain where people are at each other’s throats and it’s got to stop.
“And I’m really really disappointed Ruth Davidson isn’t running for Tory leader, she’s one of the few human beings that is in politics right now.”
Esther worked on GMTV with Lorraine in the ’90s, before swapping the world of television for politics.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, she gave her own version of events on what it was like when they worked together.
“We used to share a dressing room, and she used to do the programme afterwards,” Esther claimed. “And obviously she used to be partnered with Eamonn Holmes. and then I was promoted to be partnered with Eamonn Holmes.
“But she’s great and it was a great show. I can’t believe it. I think it was 20 years ago I did that show, but never mind. It was really good at the time. It was really good fun.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV, with Lorraine following at 8.30am.
