Lorraine viewers were seriously distracted by EastEnders star Shona McGarty’s appearance as she promoted her new show on the sofa this morning.

Today’s episode of the ITV chat show saw the actress, 33 – best known as Whitney Dean on the BBC soap – discuss her latest gig with presenter Ranvir Singh.

After playing the character for 16 years, before her departure from Walford in 2024, she is now set to star in Bettie Page Queen of Pin-Ups: The Musical.

The new show will see Shona play the iconic American pin-up girl for one night only at London’s Lyric Theatre on June 9.

But Lorraine viewers today were more focussed on Shona’s appearance – taking to X to say that with her fringe and bobbed hair, she looked uncannily like Lorraine Kelly.

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Lorraine viewers were seriously distracted by EastEnders star Shona McGarty’s appearance (pictured) as she promoted her new show on the sofa this morning

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Viewers said the actress, 33, looked uncannily similar to Lorraine Kelly, 65, the presenter of the self-titled chat show (pictured)

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Today’s episode of the ITV chat show saw Shona – best known as Whitney Dean on the BBC soap – discuss her latest gig with presenter Ranvir Singh

One fan said, comparing Shona to the Scottish host, 65, of the self-titled chat show: ‘Lorraine is looking a bit younger from her days off.’

Another user responded: ‘Great minds.’

They also made their own separate post on the social media platform: ‘Shona’s morphed into Lorraine.’

Someone else said they agreed wholeheartedly: ‘I couldn’t think who she reminded me of but yes that’s it!’

At one point in the programme, Ranvir asked Shona if she found it hard to escape being associated with Whitney, having played her continuously since she was a teenager.

Shona responded: ‘Yeah, I mean, I’ve got a fringe now so I think people sort of go, “Is it…?”

‘Or you know, I’ve had quite a few elderly ladies come up to me and they think I’m their hairdresser or they don’t quite know why they know.’

Ranvir agreed: ‘They know you from somewhere, so familiar!’

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After playing the character for 16 years, before her departure from Walford in 2024, she is now set to star in Bettie Page Queen of Pin-Ups: The Musical

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One fan said: ‘Lorraine is looking a bit younger from her days off’. Pictured: Lorraine presenting GMTV in 1993

Lorraine viewers today were more focussed on Shona’s appearance – taking to X to say that with her fringe and bobbed hair, she looked uncannily like Lorraine Kelly

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At one point in the programme, Ranvir asked Shona if she found it hard to escape being associated with Whitney (pictured), having played her continuously since she was a teenager

Laughing, Shona continued: ‘And I haven’t got the heart to say, “No, it’s EastEnders”, so I say, “Yeah, book another appointment in and I’ll give you a quick snip off the ends”.

‘But yeah, I think the Whitney thing is still there, which is nice, I mean, I was in it for a long time.’

Elsewhere in the interview, the soap actress brought up advice her EastEnders co-stars had given her over the years about both her career and life in general.

She said the late June Brown – who passed away in 2022 aged 95, after playing Dot Cotton on the soap for 35 years – gave her a very cheeky tidbit of advice years ago: ‘I’m never quite sure what she meant.

‘I said: “What’s your secret to getting to 93?”. And she said: “A handful of nuts a day.” I don’t know what she meant…’

Ranvir laughed, ‘She might have been…’, with Shona finishing her sentence, chuckling: ‘Being cheeky.’

The presenter continued: ‘A double entendre there.’

Shona agreed, amused: ‘Absolutely. I’ll have a few almonds every now and then.’

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The actress reminded viewers of Lorraine just after the chat show presenter disappeared from screens again on Monday, ditching her ITV programme this week

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She took to Instagram on Sunday (pictured) to share an exciting new project she is working on – meaning she would not be presenting her daily self-named programme for a week

The actress reminded viewers of Lorraine just after the chat show presenter disappeared from screens again on Monday, ditching her ITV programme this week.

She took to Instagram on Sunday to share an exciting new project she is working on – meaning she would not be presenting her daily self-named programme for a week.

Lorraine said: ‘Hi there! I’m in the land of the midnight sun. It’s absolutely glorious.

‘It’s a project that I have wanted to do for years and years and finally it is actually happening.

‘I’m heading really, really far North. It is going to be amazing and I will tell you all about it when I am back.

‘I’m back a week tomorrow (Monday) and I will see you then. Wish me luck.’

But some couldn’t contain themselves in the comments section, with one asking the telly star: ‘So more time off work then Lorraine!?’

‘Any excuse to not work.’