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Lorraine Kelly was forced to dig herself out of a hole during an interview with Bonnie Langford.
During a chat with the former EastEnders star, Lorraine slated the recent big-screen adaptation of Cats, seemingly not realising Bonnie’s niece actually appeared in it.
Bonnie starred in the original stage production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical during the 1980s and 90s, which came up in conversation during the interview on Lorraine’s ITV breakfast show.
After watching a clip of a recent video made in lockdown featuring over 300 former cast members – including Bonnie – recreating one of the musical’s dance numbers, Lorraine accidentally put her foot in it when she commented: “I have to say, watching that tiny little clip of your production of Cats… Heck of a lot better than the film. Crikey, wasn’t that a bad one?”
Awkwardly, Bonnie then revealed that her niece Zizi Strallen had appeared alongside the likes of Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden as Tantomile in the film.
“Well, I have to be... I have to be positive because my niece was in it,” she said.
As a still from the film was then shown on screen, Bonnie added: “In fact I think that might be her on the left, I can’t recognise her.”
Backtracking on her previous comment slightly, Lorraine then said: “Can I say, she was brilliant but the rest of it was not so good. But she was fabulous!’
Bonnie added: “If it means people will go and see the show afterwards, I’m actually for it. Any kind of entertainment.
“If we can keep ourselves going, and keep theatre going, then we can all be back together.”
Viewers on Twitter relished in the awkwardness of it all...
To be fair to Lorraine, Cats was mauled by critics upon its release in December, while Judi Dench and James Corden both later admitted they had yet to actually watch it in full.
Judi also slated the outfit her character Old Deuteronomy was made to wear, saying it was “like five foxes fucking on my back”.
She told Vogue she hoped she would look elegant in her costume, but instead resembled “a battered, mangy old cat”.
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV.
