TV presenter and action girl Helen Skelton will be in the hot seat today when she takes over the popular Lorraine chat show on daytime television.

The former Blue Peter presenter, of Kirkby Thore, near Penrith, will

present the ITV1 morning show for a week.

It will be her last TV role before she goes on maternity leave with her second child.

Helen, who currently lives in France, was a hit with viewers when she appeared on Lorraine last October, with people taking to Twitter exclaiming that she could be a permanent replacement for Lorraine Kelly.

Helen spoke about the new role.

She said: "I can't wait to be back on Lorraine, it's such a great team to work with and I had a lot of fun presenting the show last time."

One of the guests on the show today will be Jonathan Chenan, best friend of TV personality Kim Kardashian, who will talk about his pursuit of love in new reality dating show Celebs Go Dating.

There will also be segments on the Oscars and London Fashion Week, as well as the usual cookery slot.

Lorraine, meanwhile, is fulfilling her lifelong ambition to take a trip from the South Atlantic to Georgia, following the same trip polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, her hero, took a century ago.

Picking up from Monday, February 27 for two weeks will be ex-The One Show host and Loose Women star Christine Lampard.

Lorraine airs weekdays at 8.30am on ITV1.