Cat Deeley has joined This Morning as a presenter and made her debut with Rylan Clark on Monday.
The TV personality and actress, 47, began the ITV show by saying: ‘Can you believe they’ve let two of the naughtiest people on TV on live TV together.’
Rylan replied: ‘Now this is officially the end. Babe it is so lovely to see you.’
Cat later told viewers that she had ‘forgotten’ she had been a This Morning host before when she co-presented with Paul O’Grady for a special programme to celebrate Cilla Black’s 60th birthday.
Cat will be replacing Josie Gibson while she jets of to Australia to take part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
It comes after Holly Willoughby left the show last month ‘for the sake of her family’ after discovering she was the target of a foiled kidnap and murder plot and has since not been replaced permanently.
New hosts: Cat Deeley has joined This Morning as a presenter and made her debut with Rylan Clark on Monday
The TV personality and actress, 47, began the ITV show by saying: ‘Can you believe they’ve let two of the naughtiest people on TV on live TV together.’
It came five months after Philip Schofield’s departure after his affair with a young male showrunner was made public, followed by claims of an increasingly strained relationship with his co-host.
A source previously told The Sun: ‘Cat is a seasoned pro and execs have been keen to get her in for a while. She takes live TV in her stride and his really witty and personable with guests.
‘She is comfortable interviewing both pop stars and politicians, so if it goes well she could be a much more permanent solution to Holly leaving. Cat would be safe captain to steady the ship.
‘Rylan was a resounding success too so fans can expect to see a lot more of him in the future.’
Cat, who was born in West Bromwich in 1976, began her career as a model in her teenage years before hosting MTV chart show Hitlist UK with Edith Bowman and then joining SM:TV from 1998.
She spent four years hosting the show alongside Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, and it featured a fan-favourite comedy segment called Chums that parodied Friends.
The programme also become known for showing the Pokémon cartoon series, the accompanying ‘PokéRap’, a phone competition called ‘Wonkey Donkey’ and the sketch segment ‘Dec Says’.
But it was Chums that was perhaps the most famous part of the show, taking part on a set that mimicked Monica Geller’s apartment in the US comedy.
Chums saw the trio joined by an array of celebrity guests, from Tom Jones to Carol Vorderman and Mariah Carey.
Fans were hooked on Dec and Cat’s fictional will-they-won’t-they romance during the sketch, and hoped each week the pair would finally kiss before being rudely interrupted.
Chums came to an end when Ant and Dec said goodbye to SM:TV, and concluded with Dec and Deeley finally kissing despite a disastrous wedding day.
The trio then appeared in a special one-off sketch in SM:TV’s final episode in 2003, before Ant and Dec briefly revived it on Saturday Night Takeaway in March 2021, with Deeley appearing for an amusing reunion.
Twenty years after the wedding, Cat and Dec reunited, when it emerged that Ant had forgotten to sign their marriage certificate all those years ago.
Cat also reunited with Ant and Dec in December 2020 for an SM:TV reunion special on ITV during which they looked back at the story of the show.
Rylan replied: ‘Now this is officially the end. Babe it is so lovely to see you.’
Cat will be replacing Josie Gibson while she jets of to Australia to take part in I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
Chic: Cat looked incredible in a beige waist coat and matching trousers for her first day on the job
Exciting: This Morning fans were thrilled to see Cat and Rylan on their screens
Iconic: Cat began her career as a co-presenter for the ITV children’s show SMTV Live, for which she won a BAFTA Children’s Award, and its spin-off chart show CD:UK (seen in 2000)
Cute couple: Cat is pictured with her husband Patrick Kielty at the Ballywalter film premiere in London on September 18
After rising to fame on SM:TV, Cat had various other TV credits such as Fame Academy, which she presented in 2002 with Patrick Kielty – whom she later married in 2012.
Cat also presented Stars In The Eyes between 2003 and 2006 and hosted the Brit Awards in 2004 when she famously arrived at Earl’s Court in London on top of a champagne bottle wearing suspenders and fishnets.
In 2006 she moved Stateside to pursue a presenting career in the US, and started hosting entertainment show So You Think You Can Dance? in its second series, presenting every episode since.
Other famous credits including appearing as herself in Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got the Pop Factor, Life’s Too Short and House of Lies.
She was married to businessman Mark Whelan between 2001 and 2006, but then married fellow TV presenter Kielty in 2012 in Rome.
The couple, who have two sons, had been living in California but moved to North London in 2020 after Kielty and their eldest child Milo were caught up in a shooting at the Century City Mall in Los Angeles.
Patrick is the new host of Irish chat show The Late Late Show, having taken over from Ryan Tubridy.
The bookies’ new favourite to be one-half of This Morning’s presenting team was revealed last Thursday as fans praised their presenting skills.
William Hill has announced that Rylan , 35, has 5/4 odds to take over from Phillip and more recently Holly.
Rylan, is currently guest-presenting the breakfast show alongside permanent host Josie Gibson .
His high odds will be welcome news to Rylan who has had a tough year due to his mother’s ill health.
Rylan is currently a rotating presenter from Monday to Thursday alongside Josie Gibson, Craig Doyle, Rochelle Humes , and Ben Shepherd.
However, the duo being permanent seems unlikely as Josie has just 50/1 odds of replacing Holly.
The favourite to replace Holly is Loose Women’s Christine Lampard.
William Hill also revealed the four people that are close on Rylan’s heels to replace Philip Schofield. Leading the pack is Dermot O’Leary.
Dermot, 50, is best known for his former presenting role on The X Factor. He currently co-presents This Morning with Alison Hammond, 48, and bookies say he has a 3/1 chance of continuing the role permanently.
The father-of-one has been linked to This Morning since 2014 when he served as a stand-in for Schofield.
Tough: It comes after Holly Willoughby left the show last month ‘for the sake of her family’ after discovering she was the target of a foiled kidnap and murder plot
Dermot admitted in September that the audience could pick up on the awkwardness between himself and Alison.
He said: ‘The presenters make a difference … if two people aren’t getting on, the viewers can see that.’
‘Alison Hammond, my co-host, and I didn’t really know each other when we started working together but now we’re like family. I think there’s an honesty to that.’
An insider co-signed this, saying: ‘Alison and Dermot got off to a tricky start, they had very different levels of experience and came from totally different places but they then did start to rub along quite nicely.’
Marvin, 38, a member of boyband JLS, the runners-up of the fifth series of X Factor in 2008.
He has previously presented This Morning during the summer holidays with his wife Rochelle.
William Hill says he has 3/1 odds for taking over the top spot, meanwhile Rochelle Humes, 34, who previously held 10/1 odds for replacing Holly.
The couple are currently the co-hosts of the popular BBC Saturday night gameshow The Hit List.
Separately, Rochelle regularly co-presented the family favourite Ninja Warrior UK, which returns for season 5 next year.
Marvin and Rochelle are a hit with viewers who can relate to their busy household – the couple shares daughters Alaia-Mai, 10, and Valentina, 6, and son Blake, three, together.
They are the favourites to take over from Willoughby and Schofield as the hosts for Dancing On Ice in 2024, should Holly leave.
Though best-known for his presenting, Stephen, 46, is also a magician.
He began his career presenting various children’s television programmes on CITV with magical themes, and some without.
Stephen transitioned into mainstream television with Dancing On Ice: Defrosted from 2006 to 2007.
He began rapidly gaining popularity in 2007 when he became the presenter of Britain’s Got More Talent, a sister show to Britain’s Got Talent for acts that didn’t make it into the main show.
The presenter stayed in this role until 2019.
Stephen officially became a household name when he began presenting hit gameshow Catchphrase from its 2013 revival until present.
Favourite: It comes after William Hill announced Rylan Clark, 35, has 5/4 odds to take over from Philip Schofield and Holly, 42 (seen with Josie Gibson)
Could it be him? Dermot O’Leary, 50, has 3/1 odds of replacing Holly and Phil, according to William Hill
Good chance: William Hill says Marvin Humes, 38, has 3/1 odds for taking over the top spot, meanwhile Rochelle Humes, 34, who previously held 10/1 odds, has fallen out of the top five
He was a guest presenter on This Morning from 2012 to 2013.
Stephen is also the favourite to take over from Schofield as the host of Dancing On Ice in 2024, should Holly choose to stay on.
Richard Madeley has 14/1 of replacing Schofield, says William Hill.
It is no surprise that Richard, 67, is on this list, given he presented the show when it began in 1988, alongside wife Judy, 75.
The couple left the show in 2001 to host their own, Richard & Judy, which ran on Channel 4 until 2009.
This Morning airs on ITV1 and ITX on weekdays from 10am.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
