Cat Deeley's TV career and showbiz friends as she joins This Morning

Cat Deeley has had fantastic fun with her incredible TV career and now there is a lot of excitement as she will join This Morning’s sofa on a permanent basis in March.

Deeley will join Ben Shephard on the This Morning sofa every Monday to Thursday while Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary will continue to work every Friday on the ITV daytime chat show. Hammond and O'Leary reacted to the news live on air on Friday.

ITV have trialled a number of celebrity presenters before TV bosses made the decision on who they wanted to replace former hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby after they left the programme. But it is no surprise TV bosses were keen to secure Deeley for the job.

This Morning viewers loved seeing Deeley on This Morning with Rylan and then Craig Doyle, with many sharing on social media how much fun she was. Among the comments, one wrote: "Could watch the amazing Cat Deeley everyday. Well casted and many 90’s guys will be joining." Another said: "CAT & RYLAN the best pairing …. Fun/ classy and professional - very happy with this!"

We have a look at what Deeley’s career looks like so far, her friends in the showbiz world, what she has said about the This Morning job and her brushes with Willoughby herself as she prepares to take over on This Morning.

What has Cat Deeley said about This Morning?

Deeley has already expressed her joy at landing the position on the daytime TV show. She gushed that This Morning is like "having your friends over" in a sweet message.

She said: "This Morning is a national institution. Whenever it’s on, it’s like having your friends over - funny, smart, silly, heartfelt, informative and joyful - like all the greatest friendships! This Morning is and always will be the viewer’s show. Ben and I both know how much people love it, and with the help of an amazing team of people, we’re going to do our best to take care of it."

Children’s TV

Deeley got her big break in children’s television, just like her This Morning predecessor Willoughby. She started on SMTV Live in 1998 in her early 20s, where she was a co-presenter with Ant and Dec.

The trio also worked together on music show CD:UK. With both shows a success, Deeley started racking up more high-profile jobs including Fame Academy and Stars In Their Eyes.

Move to LA and US fame

Like so many celebs, it seems Deeley felt the call of Los Angeles and in 2006 headed across the pond to host So You Think You Can Dance. She took over the role from US media personality Lauren Sanchez, starting on the second series of the dance competition. American audiences loved her, and Deeley went on to host the programme for years.

However, in 2020 she announced that she and her husband Patrick Kielty were returning to the UK with their two young sons, Milo and James. Deeley told You at the time that gun violence played a role in their decision.

She explained: "There was a moment when I was with a friend looking at potential schools for Milo and we had to ask the question nobody wants to: 'What do you do if there is a live shooter on the premises?' They tell you exactly what would happen, whether the kids would go to a safe room or hide under the desks... the danger suddenly becomes a reality."

Patrick and Milo were then caught up in a scary incident at a mall, with shoppers having to flee because a shooter was on the loose.

Side projects

Hosting So You Think You Can Dance hasn’t stopped Deeley from taking on side projects along the way, and she has been a guest presenter on several programmes including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and ITV’s Lorraine.

In 2017 she also found time to reunite with her old buddies Ant and Dec when she appeared on Saturday Night Takeaway.

Showbiz friends

As well as Ant and Dec, Deeley counts Edith Bowman along her closest friends in the showbiz world. The pair have been close for decades and last year Bowman said on the Thanks A Million podcast that some people had even thought it was something more.

She said: “We were really good mates, and we are really good mates still. And it was like, 'Oh, Cat and Edith are in a lesbian relationship.’ Photographs of us kind of holding each other up, coming out of the Met bar or whatever was because we were p****d, it wasn't because we were like, licking each other's faces off. We are in love, but as friends kind of thing, it's so bizarre."

Holly Willoughby

Deeley and Willoughby have certainly crossed paths over the years, and in 2020 Deeley actually went on This Morning. The hilarious interview saw Deeley jokingly threatening to leave as Willoughby and Schofield showed old clips of her from SMTV.

Blushing, the star held her hands to her face and giggled as she watched the old footage of herself. Then pretending to walk off, she waved and said: “Bye!”

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