Cat Deeley is said to be feeling the pressures of This Morning after taking over from Holly Willoughby.
Insiders claim that Cat, who uprooted her life from LA to the UK for the gig, is already pining for her sun-soaked American dream and is worried she’s made a mistake. Cat, alongside Good Morning Britain’s Ben Shephard, was roped in to steady ITV’s flagship programme following the departure of Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, yet it seems the pressure is mounting as audience numbers have taken a nosedive since their arrival.
Initially, the duo’s entrance captivated a million viewers, but that figure has since halved, leaving bosses biting their nails.
“Cat is really feeling the pressure at This Morning and knows there is a lot riding on her and Ben to get it right,” a source told OK! Magazine. “She is really loving working with Ben and the partnership that they are building but she’s well aware of the critics and the falling ratings. She feels she and Ben haven’t been given enough time and that they are the fall guys for everything that went on at the show over the past few years.”
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ITV)
Before stepping into this role, the 47-year-old mum of two was living it up in LA, having relocated to Beverly Hills in 2006 after landing the hosting gig on the dance competition show, So You Think You Can Dance. However, after a 14-year stint, the Birmingham-born celeb and her husband of eight years, Northern Irish comedian and TV presenter Patrick Kielty, traded their sun-drenched £3.8 million LA mansion complete with a pool and gym for a new abode in North London.
But sources suggest that adjusting back to UK life hasn’t been a walk in the park for Cat and her family, with the star contemplating if she might regret her decision. They further revealed: “She and Patrick moved back to the UK for their boys but Cat really misses the LA lifestyle and everything that comes with it. She still has her job on So You Think You Can Dance and there is part of her that wonders whether they made a mistake coming back to the UK.
“The lack of sunshine is hard, as well as the laid-back way of life, plus they could be quite anonymous over there.” While Cat yearns for the US, she has voiced concerns about raising her children Milo, eight, and James, five, there.
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Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
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Dave Benett/Getty Images for Women of the Year)
In 2019, a chilling gun incident made her reconsider her life in America. Her husband had taken their eldest son Milo to the Century City Mall in LA after nursery when they found themselves in a terrifying situation.
Cat recounted how armed FBI agents arrived and instructed shoppers to hide under counters because there was an active shooter. The former SM presenter, in a state of panic, drove to the shopping centre to pick them up as they were led out through a fire exit after seeking shelter in the kitchen of the Shake Shack where they’d been having a snack.
“I got a call from Paddy, saying, ‘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. He wanted to keep Milo calm, so I didn’t understand the enormity of what was happening. As I was driving I began to see helicopters, news vans, firemen and Swat squads.”
Cat’s safety concerns only grew when she started looking at potential US schools for Milo, with the TV host sharing her fears about her children getting involved in a school shooting with friends. These worries played a part in her decision to take the This Morning job despite rumours that she’d initially rejected it. It was reported that show bosses were heartbroken after she declined the main presenting role following a guest appearance on the show in November 2023.
But it’s understood that she finally accepted the Monday to Thursday job alongside Ben, after being offered a generous salary she couldn’t refuse. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start, but now This Morning is said to be in ‘crisis’ over their ratings. While rival BBC show Morning Live continues to rake in between one million and 1.4 million viewers, Ben and Cat’s show dipped as low as 486,000 in May.
“Cat’s worried about the boys’ safety over there [in the States] so they made the decision to come back for family life and she knows she did the right thing,” the source added. “However, part of her still yearns for the LA life and they may reassess if This Morning doesn’t work out.”
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