Patrick Kielty gave an insight into his marriage to Cat Deeley. The couple announced earlier this week their decision to separate after 13 years of marriage. The TV presenters share two sons together, Milo and James and they tied the knot in 2012 in a lavish ceremony held in Rome.
In a joint statement to the PA news agency, Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty said: “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.”
Cat and Patrick first met in 2002 while co-hosting the BBC talent show Fame Academy. Their friendship blossomed into a relationship and they made their first public appearance as a couple in 2011, before they got married a year later in the Italian capital. They spent most of their relationship living in California, but they made the move back to London in 2020.
Patrick’s thoughts on their relationship have now resurfaced, from when the stand-up appeared on an episode of The Mid-Point podcast in July 2023. He shared he had less influence in decision-making in their marriage than he thought.
The Northern Irishman said: “For a long time I genuinely thought I was in a 50/50 partnership. Then you realise you’re actually a junior shareholder in a 50/50 partnership.
“You go, ‘I thought we were 50/50 — why do you seem to have more shares?’ I think with big decisions you kind of have to float stuff and see how that’s going to go.”
Patrick and Cat share two sons Milo, seven, and James, five and had relocated from Los Angeles to London before the end of their marriage. Reflecting on the decision to return to the UK, Patrick explained it was Cat’s decision more than his.
He said: “What was weird about it was it was Cat who wanted to do that. It was more so her decision. I think being a new mum and not having the family around and not having the network of cousins and brothers.”
He continued: “I think, for me, London is not home. It will never really be home for me. In my head, I still live in a little village in County Down, even though I haven’t lived there full time for 30 years. These are the tricks you play on yourself.”
Patrick explained that the move was less impactful for him because he already had to travel to see his family. He said: “Living in London, my family was always a flight away anyway, so that idea of being a longer flight away from LA wasn’t as much of a problem for me as someone who had to get a flight to go to see them anyway.”
He also spoke about Cat’s career in the United States and how the decision to return was ultimately hers. Patrick said: “I also think because Cat was the one with a successful career out there, she was the one who chose to leave that at the right time, and that’s a decision that she made and only she can make.”
Asked if the couple were at their happiest, Patrick said marriage required constant effort. He added: “Things were good but marriage was always something to be worked at. The idea of how you work together whenever the rough and the smooth and all those things – that’s the most important part.”