An ITV star has confirmed that Lorraine Kelly will be off-air "for weeks" after a string of no-shows this week. Christine Lampard, who was standing in for the Scottish presenter on Friday (March 6), revealed to audiences that the ITV programme will be off-air for an extended period. The Loose Women panellist had been deputising for Lorraine, with This Morning's Ben Shephard having covered the previous day.

As the broadcast concluded, Christine said: "That's all for today here, Lorraine will be back in a few weeks' time. Have a lovely weekend. See you soon." Earlier in the week, ITV audiences expressed worry for Lorraine Kelly after the Scottish broadcaster appeared under the weather. The 66-year-old had sounded notably hoarse during recent broadcasts, with Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid drawing attention to her voice during a handover on Tuesday (March 3).

At the time, Lorraine replied: "It's terrible. I know, it sounds awful... It's really strange."

The next day, the ITV presenter provided an update to audiences whilst acknowledging their concerned messages.

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She began the programme saying: "It actually sounds worse than it is. I've got ginger and honey, so many of you recommended that.

"Lots of people recommended munching on garlic, but I didn't want to inflict that on the rest of everybody! But I might do that at the weekend when it's only me and my husband."

She updated viewers that Dr Amir had confirmed the sore throat wasn't 'infectious', explaining: "My voice is getting a little bit better, it's actually not too bad, and the good news is I'm not infectious, Dr. Amir's checked me out."

Yet as the week progressed, her condition appeared to worsen, with Ben Shephard informing audiences that Lorraine had entirely lost her voice.

During a handover with Kate Garraway, he disclosed: "Unfortunately, if you've been watching this week, Lorraine's voice has been getting very bad.

"It's been getting worse. It finally collapsed last night. She couldn't say a thing, much to Steve's [her husband] delight - just a few squeaks here and there."

He added: "I've jumped into the hot seat just for today."