Inside Cat Deeley’s secret pain before This Morning gig including big wedding regret and shocking family murder
CAT Deeley bravely shared her regrets about her lavish wedding and her husband, Patrick Kielty, opened up about a shocking family murder years before she landed a job on This Morning.
Earlier this month, Cat , 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, replaced Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the ITV couch.
Cat shot into the spotlight in 1998 when she presented the children’s programme SMTV Live, along with Ant and Dec.
Soon after that she hosted Fame Academy on the BBC, and the 2004 Brit Awards.
Wedding regret
Cat tied the knot with comedian and TV presenter Patrick in 2012.
They had a lavish wedding in Rome, but unfortunately, Cat’s grandfather, who was unwell at the time, couldn’t attend due to it being a destination wedding.
In an effort to include him, Cat recorded the wedding, but sadly, he passed away before getting the chance to watch it.
In 2017, Cat told Grazia magazine: “He died before he saw it. The good thing is we love it and, after two glasses of wine, Patrick and I put it on like a pair of losers.”
Gun violence
Patrick and Cat share two kids, Milo, eight, and James, five.
The family lived in the US until a frightening experience at a shopping mall made them to move back to the UK.
During an interview with You magazine, she shared about Patrick and Milo being at a shopping mall while there was a gunman on the loose.
Patrick on the phone to Cat during the horrifying incident said: “They’re taking us out through the fire exits but nobody can get to their car. If we walk to a junction, can you come and get us?”
Cat’s decision to return to the UK was mainly motivated by her concern on gun violence.
The star also felt reluctant to send her kids to school, knowing the threat of guns.
She said: “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.”
Shocking family murder
Back in 1988, Patrick’s father, Jack Kielty was murdered by a member of the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
He was killed because he refused to pay protection money.
Patrick talked about his father’s tragic death in a BBC docuseries called Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland.
On the series, Patrick said: “I remember going to school and like lots of other kids who were 16, putting up your posters for Comic Relief. And being called to the headmaster’s office and thinking ‘I didn’t ask permission to put these posters up, here we go.
“The headmaster said, ‘I think you need to sit down’. There was a slow motion but very quick exchange. He said ‘your father’s been shot’. I said ‘is he dead? ‘ and he said ‘yes’.”
He added: “Rather than pay protection money to loyalist paramilitaries he decided to go to the police.”