I won’t rest until I’m sitting in Lorraine’s seat, says Jean
SHE has already gone from weather girl to prime-time TV presenter. Now Jean Johansson has set her sights on one of the highest prizes in television – Lorraine Kelly’s sofa.
The roving reporter on the BBC’s One Show – who also helps people find their dream home abroad on Channel 4’s A Place in The Sun – is keen to take over as the queen of daytime TV.
The mother of one, from Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, said: ‘I’ve been doing a lot of writing, coming up with ideas for TV shows and different formats.
‘I want to spend more time behind the camera but in terms of ambitions for next year, I want to be Lorraine Kelly and have my own daytime chat show. It’s something I’ve always wanted, to be the one sitting on the sofa and I’m hard at work to achieve that goal next year.
‘Lorraine is fabulous and having a job like hers is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time.’
Ms Johansson will have big shoes to fill. For Ms Kelly, 60, has been a firm favourite with daytime audiences for almost 30 years thanks to spells with GMTV, Daybreak and Good Morning Britain, as well as presenting her eponymously titled chat show, Lorraine, for the past decade.
Ms Johansson, who is married to Finnish football manager and former Rangers star Jonatan Johansson, has been balancing her work and motherhood through the pandemic.
She said: ‘My son, Jonatan Jnr, is at school and is doing well.
‘When I’m at home I’ve been getting right into cooking for us. That’s something of a passion.
‘I’ve been quite lucky. I have been working on A Place in the Sun, which has been fortunate enough to remain in production throughout lockdown.
‘That’s meant lots of flights back and forth. We are going to places where the quarantine rules don’t apply. We have had to be a little bit creative.’
She added: ‘I’m spending whatever spare time I have in lockdown planning and writing so that I can have the career I’ve dreamed of.’
Ms Johansson will celebrate her milestone 40th birthday today – with a quiet family meal at home.
She said: ‘I don’t feel like I’ll be 40. I feel like I’m 21, but at my age I won’t have any more kids.
‘Jonatan Jnr was an emergency caesarean. He is a blessing and we are very happy because it means we devote all of our attention to him.
‘Also, both Jonatan and I are very driven and busy with our careers.
‘We feel very blessed with our family and are very positive about what the future holds.’