Lorraine was left very confused during her meeting with Mariah Carey(Image: ITV)

Lorraine Kelly was left scratching her head after working with Mariah Carey. The telly star has fronted her self-titled ITV programme since 2010 having also appeared on the likes of Good Morning Britain, GMTV, Daybreak and This Morning.

But while she’s come face-to-face with some of the biggest names in entertainment, the 65-year-old has also had her fair share of awkward run-ins. And one encounter with music icon Mariah Carey will remain at the top of the list when it comes to odd experiences.

But it wasn’t because Mariah was “horrible,” instead, Lorraine simply for the All I Want For Christmas hitmaker to be very confusing. Speaking at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, the broadcaster opened up to fans who had been eagerly waiting to grill her on her impressive career.

She said: “The one that was difficult, 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 says Mariah Carey has been one of her most awkward interviews to date(Image: Mariah Carey/Instagram)

However, another interview with a major star left Lorraine utterly perplexed as the celebrity didn’t arrive for the interview. Recalling the time she was scheduled to interview Lady Gaga, Lorraine told the crowd: “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!

“She never turned up; I don’t know what happened there.” The comments come after the Mirror revealed that Lorraine is fighting to secure the future of her show.

Sources claim that the Scottish star will have to “pull out all the stops” for it to survive. It was announced last week that the programme had been affected by the major shake-up at ITV. It will now air for 30 weeks of the year, rather than all year round. And the duration of the programme has been cut from an hour to just half an hour.

A source said: “Lorraine was not happy about what is happening and also had concern for the production team which will be cut back too. But the truth is she has to roll her sleeves up and work harder on her own show than she has in recent years, otherwise the long-term future does not look good.”

Lorraine discovered last week that her show is part of ITV’s huge shake-up(Image: ITV)

They went on to add: “She has been an icon of ITV but serious cuts need to be made and her show has been cut to just 30 minutes, which after ad breaks will be a very short chunk of time. She needs to show bosses it is worth keeping on air. You can expect her to be pulling hard to get big name celebrities on her show instead of GMB or This Morning.”

The star was made aware of the cuts in a private meeting with bosses and she will now work five days per week in order to give the programme the best chance of staying on screens. Staff at ITV were told last Tuesday that half of the 440 members of the production team would lose their jobs.

Meanwhile, Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes every day, eating into Lorraine’s soon-to-be former airtime. This Morning, despite plunging viewing figures remains unaffected.

But Loose Women has also had its on-air time slashed and will also air for just half an hour for 30 weeks of the year. Many on the show are said to be feeling anxious about their future, with some of the older members of the panel allegedly feeling they may be replaced by younger stars, including Frankie Bridge, GK Barry and Olivia Attwood.