IT may have looked like bad news for Lorraine Kelly when her morning TV chat show hours were axed last year.

But the delighted Scots presenter used the extra time to head to America to join the Tartan Army with husband Steve Smith.

The couple have spent the last few days in Boston where they joined tens of thousands of Scotland supporters in the stands to watch the national team’s second World Cup game against Morocco at the city’s Gillette Stadium on Friday night.

A 1-0 loss may not have been the result they had hoped for but that did not dampen Lorraine’s spirits as she and her husband made the most of their vacation across the Pond.

In a social media post after the game, Mr Smith posted: ‘Never mind. The bus trip back was good’.

He also uploaded a video of them in jovial spirits, singing on the bus with other supporters as they returned to their hotel.

And before leaving Boston, the couple were pictured enjoying some of the sights.

Ms Kelly told her 591,000 Instagram followers: ‘Last day in Boston, so had to do The Boston Tea Party Museum and experience. Great fun. Brilliant city – made all us Scotland fans so welcome.’

The national side face a crucial game against Brazil tomorrow night [Wed] in Miami, which could decide if they progress in the tournament. But she remained upbeat, saying: ‘You never know we might be back to play more football. It’s not over yet!’

The 66-year-old was last year forced to put on a brave face when she was informed that ITV’s Lorraine was being cut from the airwaves for almost half the year.

But while she admitted it was ‘a bit of a shock at first’ it had ‘worked out well’ and ‘opened up a whole new world’ for her.

In a Radio Times interview she said: ‘I can spend more time with my granddaughter, Billie, who’s human sunshine.’

The Glasgow-born grandmother also revealed she was enjoying introducing the youngster to Star Trek, a show she would often watch with her father John, who died earlier this year aged 84 after falling on an icy path in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.

She said: ‘She’s only two, so some of it is a bit dark for her, but we watched the Tribbles episode together, and I bought her a Mr Spock toy that she carries around with her. She calls it Baby, and when she sees Spock on the telly she goes “Baby”, which I think is adorable.’

Her last day in Boston came as thousands of Tartan Army foot soldiers began arriving in Miami, 1,500-miles from New England’s biggest city, where they have brought the streets and bars alive with the sound of bagpipes and celebrations for the last fortnight.

The Scotland supporters now face the twin threat of tropical downpours and scorching temperatures with the mercury expected to reach as high as 40C ahead of tomorrow’s match.

Thunderstorms in downtown Miami have already caused the main fan zone to be evacuated temporarily on safety grounds.

To welcome the thousands who made the journey to Florida, the City of Miami Beach & Miami Beach Police Department announced plans for a ‘beach march’ today [Tues] along Ocean Drive ‘as a welcome to the good natured, party loving Scots’.

But as one Tartan Army foot soldier attempted to put a cone on a Miami statue yesterday, the police were quick to sound their sirens and order him to take it down.

He told a camera: ‘It’s obviously not Boston’.

Posting the incident on social media, the woman filming added: ‘We’re a wee bit way from the Miami police loving the Scots….but there’s still time.’

The head of World Cup policing operations in Miami Dade County reminded supporters of a ‘no tolerance’ approach to ‘unruly or criminal behaviour’.