FOR thirty-two years Lorraine Kelly has presented herself as as a Cilla Black-like figure, a wholesome, rosy-cheeked girl-next-door figure who saves bored housewives from being bombed by torpidity. Kelly’s story, as she tells it, is that she just happened to end up a national television presenter.

Scarcely an interview takes place without the Gorbals-born breakfast host telling the world she’s “totally normal”. But can this be the case? Is it possible to survive three decades-plus in the hugely competitive world of breakfast television without having, at the very least, sharp elbows? And there’s her performance; so often defined by the ease with which she’ll ask the seemingly vacuous question, “Where did you get your shoes, they’re gorgeous?” Is this merely part of the normal act, and a softener for the zinger to come?

Conversation today has been set up to talk about her new fitness DVD, offering the chance to ask how normal Lorraine Kelly actually is. But let’s not bother with a softener. So tell me, Lorraine, does the world really need yet another piece of plastic telling woman how to shrink their bits?”

She laughs, sort of. “Well, it’s hilarious, isn’t it? I’m 57 this week and doing a DVD with tiny little girls from reality shows.” But why? “We’re doing it because we did one last year and people asked for another. You see, I go to these keep fit classes near my wee flat in the Westminster area and it costs a fiver. And when we sent out selfies we had people from the likes of Aberdeen asking for a new DVD because they couldn’t get to the class.”

Just a fiver. Already, Kelly is selling her ordinariness. No posh Soho gyms for this Glaswegian. And this DVD, she says, is almost compulsory. “There’s a real problem with obesity,” she maintains before adding, “but the DVD is non-preachy. At this time of the year we all need a laugh.”

Where does she stand on the paradox whereby governments tell people they should lose weight – yet many people lambast those who “body shame” and deny a person a few Curly Wurlys?

“I hate the term body shaming,” she says, the light gone from her voice. “It’s horrible. We have big girls who are size 18 [in our class] but they are healthy. It’s whether or not you’re carrying too much fat. That’s why I started going to these classes. I’ve toned up.”

Yes, you have, we’ve seen the bikini shots in the magazines, but how can someone be a size 18 and be healthy, when Type 2 diabetes crisis is looming?

“Mmm. I think it’s kind to say to someone, ‘I think you need to do something about your health.”

OK, but what if the actresses Melissa McCarthy or Rebel Wilson say, ‘I am what I am.’? “That’s fantastic!” she says. Is it? Even if they are facing heart disease? “That’s true,” she concedes. “Yet, no one should be ashamed of their size. If they’re happy.”

But what if they’re costing the NHS a fortune? Kelly doesn’t answer. Instead, she talks more, lots, lots more about the benefits of exercise to the extent you suspect she is running down the clock. She concludes; “I’m not saying to everyone, ‘Go out and get my DVD’. But do something to lose weight.”

I think you are saying both, Lorraine, I suggest. You sell things to people. The likes of the DVD sales have seen your company register profits of £2.2m this year. “Don’t believe what I’m supposed to have earned,” she chides, playfully. "Newspapers pick a number and multiply it by a million. And listen, I’m not flash. I’ve got one pair of earrings because I have one pair of ears. And I have one handbag. And I like to wear a tracksuit and jeans and one posh frock. I’m not into jewellery. I’m not into stuff. But because I do this job I get some nice clothes to wear.”

Surely the trackie image clashes with her fashion range – her fifth – The Lorraine Kelly Collection? “Well, I can’t wear awful clothes on the telly, and I have gotten into fashion and this is something I wanted to do because I wanted to create clothes that are accessible and affordable and comfortable. I find it difficult to get clothes, because for me it’s all about value.”

I would imagine Kelly to have a clothes allowance worth more than the average annual wage. And while the altruism may be genuine surely the business motivation is to create a bank account bigger than an Amazon warehouse? “No. I feel it’s a privilege to put my name to the collection, to choose the fabrics, designs, take the feedback on board, If you don’t you won’t get the success. But of course I’ve been very lucky.”

Since Kelly’s arrival on national TV with TV AM in 1984, the lady has talked of luck so often her Irish DNA is irrefutable. But her career suggests a highly woman focused. She abandoned university plans (to study English and Russian) to go directly to the East Kilbride News. Of her Scotland correspondent job with TV AM she later recalled, “I’d go to the ends of the earth to get my story. If a day went by and I wasn’t on the bulletins, that was a failure. I worked my a*** off, I really did.”

I suggest she’s still working her posterior. In fact, Lorraine Kelly is an industry.

“No, I’m not,” she says, ticking me off. “I’ve been around for 32 years and what you see is what you get. I’m so lucky to be doing this job for so long. People just like the fact they can turn on and there you are.”

They like the fact she can flit from shoes and frocks to moral issues, her west of Scotland value systems prismed into her principled stance. For example, she had a go recently at a Love Island reality show female contestant. “Sex is not a spectator sport.” Does daughter Rosie (22) tell her off for being a fuddy-duddy? “No, she’s more angry about this than me.”

Let’s talk about opinions. (Kelly has two newspaper columns). Is she told to draw the line by TV bosses? “No. Not at all.” But what about politics? “Oh, yes.” So she won’t talk about Brexit or the SNP. What about The Donald? “I think it’s appalling, it’s dreadful. But I think the grown-ups around him can stop him doing as he says he’ll do. We are seeing him backtrack already.”

How does she feel about women’s progress in politics? She speaks in glowing terms about the fact the three main political leaders in Scotland are women. “And there’s the Prime Minister,” she says, realising she missed someone out. Does she believe in positive discrimination? “I believe it should be the best person for the job, but women paying ridiculous amounts for childcare is nuts.”

How does she feel the world views Lorraine Kelly? “I don’t lose sleep over it. I only care what family and friends think.” What about criticism? She resets her answer. “If someone says they’re not affected by criticism they’re a liar but I don’t get very much of it.” She adds: “But here’s the thing; I’ve never had a strategy, I’ve never had a five-year plan.”

Mmm, given your success and all your sidelines? “No, and I don’t analyse things. I’m too busy. I just do a show for an hour in the morning and I hope it makes people happy. But I do like it when people come up to me and say they feel I’m someone they know.”

Clearly, millions do feel they know Lorraine Kelly. But not this interviewer, because rationale can sometimes be a casualty in the war of words. A little example: Kelly interviewed the rather sad joke figure Honey G, from the X Factor, two weeks ago. “The wee lassie from the X Factor is actually really nice.” But should she be on a national singing competition when she clearly can’t? “I don’t know. . . it’s an odd one.” Are we laughing at her rather than appreciating her? “Well, maybe. It’s like Ed Balls.” Not really. Ed Balls is a very clever politician trying to reinvent himself while trousering around £100k.

Never mind. What’s delightful about Lorraine Kelly is she seems delightfully unaware of the contradictions in her arguments. If she says she feels ordinary, perhaps she is. Even if she isn’t really. And tens of thousands will no doubt buy her new video because it’s not preachy and its good fun.

Lorraine Kelly’s new fitness DVD Lorraine: Brand New You, is out on December 26.

Favourite Holiday Destination. If it’s Scotland I love to go to Orkney. When you go there you can feel the stress go out of your body. Next year I’m going to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Favourite Film: I guess, well, Bladerunner. Or what about All About Eve? The dialogue crackles. It’s a joy.

Best Advice Received. My old gran once said to me, ‘Never keep anything for best.’ What’s the point of keeping your best underwear in a drawer? And always wear your best perfume. Her motto was Seize The Day.

Ideal Dinner Companions: Sir Ernest Shackleton, Billy Connolly, Helen Mirren, Mr Spock, who was my first crush, David Bowie and Dawn French.

Interview She Regrets Not having: David Bowie. But if I’d tried to interview him I would have been a wreck. I get star struck as it is when Eighties bands come on the show.

Worst Interview: Harrison Ford. And Bruce Willis.

Favourite TV: I love the Crown at the moment, Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul. And I’ve been watching Suits, which everybody is because that wee lassie (Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s squeeze) is in it.

Moment That Changed Her Life: When my daughter was born. I don’t want to sound too American but it made me a better person, a bit less single-minded and it helped me with my job.