5 hidden 'signs' Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty's marriage was in trouble

TV presenter Cat Deeley and stand-up comedian Patrick Kielty were thought to have one of the most normal and down to earth relationships in showbusiness. They first met while hosting the BBC 's Fame Academy in 2002 and remained friends until 2011 when they became romantically involved and settled down together.

The couple now share two sons, Milo, nine, and James, seven, who were both born in the US. The family moved back to the UK in 2020 and were hopeful about their future together after both Cat, 48, and Patrick, 54, landed high profile presenting jobs and bought a grand new home.

However they shocked the entertainment world yesterday when they announced their union had come to an end after 13 years of marriage.

READ MORE: Cat Deeley said 'poor Patrick Kielty' in intimate bedroom admission months before split

In a joint statement they confirmed: "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."

Here we take a look at what went wrong for the pair and the five factors in their lives that may have rocked their solid marriage, from Cat’s struggle with life in the UK to the stress of renovating their ‘forever home’.

A 'really hard' move

Cat had lived in Hollywood since 2006 where she was one of the top presenters on US TV and was worth an estimated £12million. Patrick lived there with her for almost a decade before they relocated from Los Angeles to London in 2020. She later teased that she would be back stateside each summer for her role on hit reality show So You Think You Can Dance.

They were said to have made the decision to return in part because they disliked Donald Trump and due to concerns over gun violence. Patrick’s dad, Jack, a businessman, was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland so his fear of guns was understandable. It was compounded when he was in a shopping mall with Milo in 2018 and they were ordered to take cover because there were rumours a shooter was on the loose. It turned out to be a false alarm but Cat said she found it "really scary".

When they were looking at schools and were informed of the procedures should a gunman enter the premises, it only added to their desire to make their move back to the UK to raise their sons. Cat has also said other factors included wanting to be closer to family and friends.

But she has admitted finding the lack of sunshine in the UK "really hard" after enjoying the warmth of LA for so long. Recalling her US home, she labelled it "blissful". "From my balcony you could see right the way down Benedict Canyon to the ocean," she told The Sunday Times. "I’d sit having my coffee in the sunshine in my pyjamas surrounded by hummingbirds. At night the house glowed pink with the sunset."

The constant scrutiny she has faced since being back in the UK has been tough on her too. When she took over at This Morning the spotlight was directly on her as she stepped into the big shoes that were once filled by Queen of daytime TV, Holly Willoughby. Her every word on the live show was analysed and she was harshly called out on many occasions if she slipped up or accidentally offended anyone.

When asked if the criticism shocked her, she called it "a very British thing," because it just doesn’t happen in the US. "Everyone keeps checking in with me, 'Are you OK? Are you handling this all right?'" she said last year before adding that she’d simply leave if it got out of hand: "I don’t care. I do not care. If it gets too much for me I’m going to quit. I don’t need to do it. I could stop and be a mum for most of the year and then go and do the shows in America. There is no ulterior motive for me doing this."

New home 'shock'

After putting their Beverly Hills mansion on the market for £3.8million, the couple bought their £5million 'forever home' in London’s affluent and leafy Hampstead and set about renovating it. Cat previously spoke of her delight over the 1950s five bedroom property and detailed her plans for stripping it back: "It’s going to be super-modern. I want some sculptural stairs and I’m really excited about the kitchen," she said.

However the project is thought to have added even more stress to their already strained lives. After paying a visit to the house and seeing it was still a building site she said in a clip: "I'm not going to lie, I got a bit of a shock today. Not much house, lots of air."

'Work got in the way'

Following their return to the UK, Cat took up her role alongside co-host Ben Shephard on ITV ’s flagship morning chat show in March 2024, for which she is believed to be paid around £600,000 per year. The job means she has to get up super early four days a week at 5am to get to the studio in time to prepare for the show.

The previous September Patrick was handed a three-year, £216,000 contract to host 30 episodes of RTE’s Late Late Show, after he took over from Ryan Tubridy. He’s maintained a punishing weekly commute to Dublin ever since where he’s had a home in Dundrum for over 25 years. He also hosts a Saturday morning show on Radio 5 Live. Following news of the couple’s split, RTE confirmed he would be returning to his role after the summer break. "RTÉ looks forward to Patrick returning to the Late Late Show in September," a spokesperson said.

Their roles have meant the couple’s time together was severely impacted. In 2024 Patrick spoke about how hard it was for them to juggle parenting with their presenting work. He revealed it had been particularly difficult post-Christmas 2023 when Cat had to return to the US for a period to film So You Think You Can Dance.

He told The Times: "There was a moment after Christmas that was tricky. She had to fly to Atlanta for seven weeks. There was a wee bit of a juggle there. But I think with all these things, as long as you have a routine, it doesn’t take as much fizz out of you as some people think."

He also spoke about their new routine after she took up the This Morning role, revealing they only really saw each other at weekends. "Because Cat’s doing her stuff in the morning, she would normally be back just after lunchtime. And we’ve got the start of the week and the weekends together, so it’s not 'Hi/bye'," he said.

Cat has also detailed how she battles to balance things between work and home life. Last year she said: "I drop the ball all the time. I’m exactly the same as everybody else. I do the juggle - the juggle is real, the struggle is real. You know, we know, we’re all just trying to make everything work."

Following the couple’s split announcement an insider suggested that the pressure of their careers had indeed broken them. They told the Daily Mail: "It is such sad news. They were so happy after they moved back to London, and would talk about their grand plans to renovate the house for the family. But sadly, as so often happens with relationships, work got in the way and it put a huge strain on the marriage."

Separate bedrooms

It seems even when they were under the same roof, they weren't often in the same bed. Last year Cat dropped a bombshell live on This Morning about her and Patrick’s sleeping arrangements. She and Ben were presenting a segment on whether separate bedrooms are the key to a happy marriage when Cat revealed she and Patrick often sleep in different rooms because of their work.

She said: "It's one of those things that because of our schedule here [at This Morning], from Monday to Thursday I sleep in the guest bedroom and the rest of the time I'm back. Because otherwise I get up at 5am and I want to fall asleep earlier."

Cat didn't care about renewing vows

Cat and Patrick tied the knot in 2012 in an intimate ceremony in Italy on September 29. 

She revealed that she trusted her fiance so much she didn’t even view the wedding venue, St Isidore's College in Rome, before their big day and hadn’t had much involvement in the plans.

When she was asked about the possibility of renewing their vows, she told Closer: "I barely even did my own wedding. 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.

"I don’t care, as long as everybody was there and had a good time - it doesn’t bother me. Plus, I’m quite lucky I get to dress up and have really special occasions all the time, so to me that wasn’t the most exciting thing to happen."