Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty have ended their relationship after a 12-year marriage, with the former couple confirming the news in a joint statement to PA Media.
The statement read: "We have taken the decision to end our marriage and are now separated. There is no other party involved. We will continue to be united as loving parents to our children and would therefore kindly ask for our family privacy to be respected. There will be no further comment."
The couple are parents to two sons, Milo, eight, and James, five. Cat has previously credited her sons with her decision to move back to the United Kingdom after spending several years living in the United States.
© GettyCat explained: "We had always thought: 'Our boys have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins they adore, and they adore them right back'. It's such a special moment in time and you don’t get those times back."
She also spoke about how her children inspire her to feel "seven and three quarters sometimes and try new things", adding that "we're never too old to try new things and sometimes the things that scare us a little bit are good to try too."
Marriage
Cat and Patrick said 'I do' in a romantic ceremony in Rome; the couple had only been publicly together for four months by the time they walked down the aisle. Cat previously joked that she wasn't involved much with the planning, telling Closer magazine: "Patrick went and tried the food and did all that, I never even saw the place where I got married before I got married, that's how uninvolved I was."
The presenter looked divine on her big day, with the mother-of-two styling out an Alexander McQueen dress. The item had been purchased years before Cat even married the irish comedian, with the star telling Lorraine Kelly in 2021: "It was so beautiful that I just couldn't not buy it and I hadn't even met Paddy at that stage. I literally put it in my cupboard and I was like I'll wear it to something... I'll wear it to some awards. There you go!"
© GettyAlthough the former couple married in 2012, the duo first met in 2002 when they presented Fame Academy together. At the time, Cat was married to businessman Mark Whelan, while Patrick was also in a relationship. Speaking to comedian Tommy Tiernan in 2023, Patrick revealed that while nothing untoward happened between the duo at the time, they both felt a "vibe".
Ahead of the split, there had been reports that the pair were in a long-distance relationship, but Patrick dismissed this as a "myth". He stated: "It's a myth that we have a long-distance relationship. It's really not what people think. We're either both living over here, or we're both over there, or we're working. We sit there together, reading stuff like that and I'll say, 'Yes, this is a very long-distance relationship, now who's making tea, you or me?'"
Children
During the course of their relationship, Cat and Patrick welcomed their sons, Milo and James.
© InstagramIn an interview with HELLO!, she opened up about balancing her life as a parent and presenter. "I drop the ball all the time. I'm exactly the same as everybody else," she confessed. "I do the juggle – the juggle is real, the struggle is real. We're all just trying to make everything work. It's all a juggle; it's juggling the things that make you feel good."
Cat has been open about wanting to inspire her boys through her work. The former presenter of SMTV Live released a children's book, The Joy in You, in 2020 which she said is "a series of feelings and moments and thoughts and emotions and it’s kind of top and tailed with love."
