Lorraine Kelly has gone topless to launch a bold new initiative aimed at saving lives. The 65-year-old presenter posed with two Chelsea buns covering her chest to promote National Check Your Boobs Day, part of her long-running Change + Check breast cancer awareness campaign.
The new annual day, held every October 1, will encourage people to regularly self-check for early signs of breast cancer. Lorraine hopes Prime Minister Keir Starmer will officially back the event so it becomes a fixture in the national health calendar.
Lorraine said launching the day was “a huge step forward” and added: “It will hopefully be a crucial reminder for everyone to prioritise their breast health. We will never know how many lives have been saved, but the fact there are over 100 women – and even one man – alive today because of Change + Check makes me so proud.”
Her campaign has already reached remarkable milestones: the Change + Check choir closed last year’s Royal Variety Show with Marti Pellow, and later performed at Buckingham Palace for King Charles and Queen Camilla. Lorraine admitted the support from the Royal Family was “an unforgettable moment”.
The presenter has been open about her own approach to breast health. She revealed her husband of 32 years, cameraman Steve Smith, “selflessly” checks her breasts for lumps. “He probably knows them better than I do,” she joked, adding that the act is no different from men checking for testicular cancer.
The Change + Check campaign was inspired by Lorraine’s close friend and producer Helen Addis, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 39. Posters and stickers illustrating warning signs – from lumps to nipple discharge or skin dimpling – are now placed in hundreds of changing rooms across the UK.
Lorraine said: “Of course, our boobs are all different. What is normal for you might not be normal for me. But what matters most is that we all check.”
