Lorraine Kelly has admitted it was a package addressed to her that caused a security alert at ITV’s studios and forced This Morning and Loose Women off air.
Thursday’s live edition of This Morning was pulled after staff at Television Centre in west London had to be evacuated, with pre-recorded episodes of the show and fellow daytime favourite Loose Women broadcast instead.
Tube stations White City and Wood Lane, which are both opposite the ITV studios, were also closed while police investigated the suspicious package.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Friday, Lorraine revealed how someone had sent her a gift to the building that prompted security concerns.
“Apparently, I am told it was somebody from a film company had sent me a wee present and it had a battery in it and when they x-rayed it, it looked a little bit suspicious,” Lorraine told Ben Shephard.
“But it was all fine and dandy and it’s OK.”
Reflecting on the interruption to the schedules, Lorraine said: “It shows the system all works so it’s all fantastic.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police previously said the area was evacuated “as a precaution” after the alarm was raised just after 11am on Thursday.
This Morning fell off air around an hour later due to the unfolding situation, with the incident eventually stood down just before 1pm.
ITV returned to scheduled programming at 1.30pm and apologised to viewers for “the interruption”.
The broadcaster moved production of all its live daytime shows from its former studios on London’s Southbank to Television Centre in 2018.
The iconic building was previously owned by the BBC, and was redeveloped after the corporation sold it in 2013, with it now comprising of homes, a hotel, a private members club and other hospitality venues, as well as three TV studios.