ITV This Morning star Dermot O'Leary floors fans as he shares 'official' name
Dermot O'Leary left his This Morning co-star Cat Deeley stunned when he disclosed his real name on the ITV programme. During Tuesday's show, the 51 year old presenter shared the surprising detail about his identity.
Cat Deeley, 48, was curious to find out if Dermot had a middle name. He then revealed that Dermot wasn't actually his first name.
He shared: "My first name is Sean, Sean Dermot O'Leary." Despite knowing Dermot for over 20 years, Cat was taken aback and exclaimed: "Your first name is Sean? How did I not know that?!"
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Cat is married to TV host Patrick Kielty, who hails from Northern Ireland. Dermot quizzed Cat about her husband's name, asking if it was indeed Patrick, and she confirmed it was.
He then explained to Cat the confusion behind his name, adding: "Okay, well, normally, if you're born in Ireland or if you have Irish parents, they name you something, and then they call you something totally different."
"So, I am Sean Dermot, but I've only ever been called Dermot. But I'm officially Sean Dermot."
Throughout his career, Dermot has encountered some awkward situations due to his name, including an incident at the passport office. Dermot recounted: "Once, I went into the Irish passport office. Pre-Brexit, the Irish passport office was quite chilled, so they were like, 'Oh yeah, you're here, we've got your passport."
"I looked down, and it said Dermot. They went, 'Yeah, you are Dermot? I said yeah but I'm also Sean Dermot, look at the old passport.
"So, now I'm both Dermot and Sean Dermot, which, as you can imagine, for legal reasons, is quite confusing!"
Dermot was named after his father, Sean Dermot Fintan O'Leary Sr, with the addition of "junior". In 2021, he joined the This Morning team, presenting on Fridays and holidays alongside Alison Hammond.
This week, he filled in for Ben Shephard, who is currently filming a new game show in New Zealand after announcing a temporary break from the show last week.