Cat Deeley has opened up about her experience on This Morning as she reveals the kind gesture from Holly Willoughby and the reason she would quit the show.
The TV presenter, 47, who started the gig full time in March this year, accepted the co-hosting role with Ben Shepherd after several appearances as a guest presenter.
Cat’s appearances on the show were warmly received by the viewing public and producers were keen to snap her up permanently.
But the mother of two, who shares sons Milo, eight, and James, five, with husband Patrick Kielty, also insisted she couldn’t care less about any negative feedback.
One person who made her feel welcome on the show was former host of 14 years Holly Willoughby, as she revealed the stars ‘classy move’ when she joined the show.
She told the Sunday Times: ‘Holly sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers and a handwritten card. It was a really classy move, it really touched me.’
Cat also detailed her plans to meet up with Holly, adding: ‘At some stage, once the dust settles, I’m sure we will get together. People always talk about women being pitted against other women but actually it’s just not true.’
Holly, 42, announced her decision to leave the daytime show on her Instagram page, as she confirmed she ‘will not be returning’ to the show and revealed she had made the decision for ‘herself and her family’.
Holly suffered severals blow throughout 2023, which began when her golden girl status was knocked during ‘Queuegate’, when she and former co-host Phillip Schofield were accused queue jumping at the Lying-in-State of Queen Elizabeth II.
At the time, Holly was said to be distraught over the change in public opinion towards her and the scandal reportedly caused a rift in her relationship with Phillip, 62, with insiders claiming that ‘cracks began to show’ between the once close pair.
Sources reported that relations between the co-hosts and friends deteriorated further in the coming months. They came to head when it emerged that Phillip had been having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger male colleague.
Cat admitted that the ‘constant scrutiny’ is new to her after she spent years working in the U.S, where she didn’t suffer the ‘same kind of grief’.
When asked if it shocked her, she said: ‘Yes! Everyone keeps checking in with me, ‘Are you OK? Are you handling this all right?’
Cat went on to boldly claim she would quit if it ever became overwhelming, she said: 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.’
Cat, who lives in a rental property in north London while their family home is being renovated, has spent the summer off in the St Tropez with her young family.
During her summer break, a rotation of guest presenters were brought in to front the show in their absence.
Friday favourites Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary kicked off the summer shows from, Monday July 15, before a mix of familiar faces returned to the sofa.
Josie Gibson, Craig Doyle, Rylan Clark, Rochelle Humes and Joel Dommett, plus new mum Sian Welby were also among a rotation of faces.
She is set to return to the This Morning sofa on September 2 alongside Ben, who she recently revealed she swaps beauty tips with.
They have only presented the ITV breakfast show together for five months, but the pair have become some close they share under eye patches.
Ben, 49, said: ‘With my 50th birthday approaching, I have become a lot better at my skincare regime. And actually, Cat is amazing, and me being able to share the under eye patches with you has been quite a moment.’
The presenter said he introduced the popular treatment to his morning regime to ‘reduce puffiness’ around his eyes before he goes on air.
Cat added: ‘We’re very open about it! I wear mine in the car on the way in. You wear yours when you get here. All of a sudden, we are like, 27.’
