Despite gracing our screens with her bubbly disposition on a daily basis, Lorraine Kelly keeps her off-screen life private, including her 31-year marriage with her husband Steve Smith.
The Scottish TV star made an exception on Wednesday when she spoke to Cici Coleman and Frankie Bridge about their First Dates podcast. While swapping dating stories, Lorraine opened up about how she fell in love with her husband.
"It's probably almost 40 years [since] the last time I went on a date. My first date was going to see Dundee United against Herts. Very romantic, it was against Herts," she joked. "I absolutely fell in love with the team as well as the man. Of course, now it's online."
On the subject of the rise of dating apps, Lorraine continued: "Do you think it's easier or tougher out there now? I don't know, I haven't been out there for such a long time! I have got no idea."
Ceci replied: "I think it is tough but I try not to say those words or it will become really hard."
Lorraine and cameraman Steve's love story began through work after they met in the TV-am office. "He walked into the TV-am office 28 years ago where I was working as a reporter and he was part of the crew, and I thought, 'That'll do, I'm having that,'" she told Woman and Home.
They began by building a close friendship and romance blossomed one year later. "It all happened rather quickly when we had to do a shoot on location at Glencoe. We were staying in a tiny hotel in the middle of nowhere and I got him incredibly drunk on tequila before making my move. The way I remember it is that I leapt on him like a ninja and he had absolutely no defence!" she continued.
The couple tied the knot at Mains Castle in Dundee in September 1992, but Lorraine admitted she had one regret about her "bouffant" Princess Diana-inspired wedding dress.
"At my wedding, it was such a small one, it was wee, it really was. All I wanted was men in kilts and pipers. There was no real plan! It was very, very traditional.
© Instagram"My dress... Uyuy-yuy. It was 1992 so it was kind of like a Princess Diana bouffant thing with big sleeves – oh God. We could all get in it! We could all fit in my dress. I've still got it," she said at the launch of BBC's Wedding Day Winners in 2017.
Lorraine and Steve are now parents to daughter Rosie and she posts rare tributes to her husband on social media on their anniversaries, but has been open about the fact that he has no desire to share the spotlight. The 63-year-old shared a peek inside their relationship when she credited him for supporting her throughout her successful career.
© Instagram"Steve does all the cooking. I'll tidy up but I can't cook to save my life," Lorraine told The Mirror. "He picks up the slack and always has. I couldn't do what I do if it weren't for him. He makes me laugh an awful lot. He's very kind and a brilliant dad."
Lorraine added: "His idea of hell on earth would be at something like a premiere. It would be like having needles stuck in his eyes. That does help. It must be very odd being with someone who enjoys walking down a red carpet."
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