Cat Deeley jokes she is a ‘naughty’ host while kicking off This Morning stint

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Cat Deeley has kickstarted her hosting stint on This Morning by joking that she and co-presenter Rylan Clark are “two of the naughtiest people” to be let onto ITV.

The 47-year-old will be presenting for three days – alongside Clark (35) again on Tuesday before she shares the sofa with Craig Doyle on Wednesday.

Deeley is thought to be one of the people in the running to replace Holly Willoughby as a presenter of the show.

Opening the programme, Deeley said: “Can you believe they’ve let two of the naughtiest people in television live on ITV?”

“Now this is officially the end,” Clark said. “This is how it ends.”

A clip played showing photos of Clark and Deeley displayed on a wall inside the This Morning studio.

Speaking to Deeley, Clark said: “I knew you were a massive big deal all my life but today confirmed it when I walked down the corridor of power and saw this (photo). Babe, we’re on the wall.”

Clark then reminded Deeley that she had presented This Morning years before, telling her this was not her “first rodeo”.

To this Deeley said: “I’d kind of forgotten, I thought it was.”

“Do you know why? Because it was so long ago.”

She went on: “So essentially I’ve done it once before, it was probably about 20 years ago, it was Cilla Black’s 60th birthday and I hosted the show with Paul O’Grady and we gave Cilla her bus pass.”

Deeley described Black and O’Grady as “two of the loveliest people in TV”.

During the show Deeley and Clark were joined by guests including broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, who discussed the sacking of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

Other guests included actor Michael Palin and makeup guru Bobbi Brown.

In October, former This Morning presenter Willoughby departed as the main host of the daytime programme after 14 years in the role.

Her exit followed the departure of her long-time co-host Phillip Schofield in May, after he admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger male colleague.

ITV said it was “not provided with, and did not find, any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumour” when it looked into the matter in 2020, and chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said there will be an external review.

Deeley presented ITV’s Stars In Their Eyes and the BBC’s Fame Academy before hosting American competition show So You Think You Can Dance for more than a decade.

She is married to Patrick Kielty, the new host of RTÉ's The Late Late Show.

Her temporary stint comes as one of the show’s presenters, Josie Gibson, is rumoured to be entering I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!