Lorraine Kelly names her two worst celebrity interviews

Kelly was speaking at the 2025 Hay Festival of Literature and Arts

Lorraine Kelly named her favourite and least favourite celebrity interviews during an appearance at the 2025 Hay Festival of Literature and Arts.

The Hay Festival is being held in partnership with The Independent for the second year running, and sees leading figures from across the world of culture gather to deliver talks and panel discussions.

On Monday (26 May), Kelly was interviewed by Jude Rogers about her 2024 novel The Island Swimmer, alongside fellow novelist Holly Bourne.

At the end of the event, the floor was thrown open to questions from the audience, whereupon the Lorraine host was asked to name her best and worst talk show guests.

“George Clooney is adorable,” she responded. “He just is. He’s my favourite.”

She then went on to cite interviews with singers Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga as being among the worst.

“The one that was difficult,” Kelly said, “not because she was horrible... but Mariah Carey was ‘refreshed’. It’s good we were [pre-recording] it because her first answer was 10 minutes long, and did not make any sense.

“But I always give people the benefit of the doubt.”

Lorraine Kelly at the 2025 Hay Festival (Billie Charity and Hay Festival)

She then recalled a interview with Lady Gaga, in which Kelly’s production crew were left waiting “for five or six hours” for an interview that never materialised.

“They kept saying ‘she’s getting in the car, she’s getting in the car’, and of course my crew have all been up since God knows when... they need to go home to bed!” Kelly said.

“She never turned up; I don’t know what happened there,” she added.

During her four-decade career as a TV presenter, Kelly, 65, has interviewed many of the world’s most famous celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Buzz Aldrin, and Hugh Jackman.

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Held over 11 days in the town of Hay-on-Wye, the Hay Festival features a lineup that includes Donald Trump’s estranged niece, Mary Trump, Welsh actor and activist Michael Sheen, actor and campaigner Jameela Jamil, and more.

Throughout the festival, The Independent is hosting a series of morning panels titled The News Review, in which our journalists will explore current affairs with leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy.