After months of rocky waters and a fall-out that almost sank ITV’s flagship breakfast show, there was a mood of excited relief among the This Morning team yesterday – as new presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard took the helm for the first time.
For Deeley, however, it was a skin-of-the-teeth arrival. For 18 years she has been a fixture on US television as the presenter of talent show So You Think You Can Dance.
But on Saturday, she flew back to the UK on a red-eye service from New York and arrived at the north-London home she shares with husband Patrick Kielty and sons Milo, eight, and James, five, with just hours to spare before her first visit to the This Morning set.
On Saturday Cat Deeley flew back to the UK on a red-eye service from New York with just hours to spare before her first visit to the This Morning set ahead of hosting with Ben Shephard
‘Made it and the sun is shining,’ she enthused in a clip shared on social media.
On Sunday she also met Shephard for the first time since the pair signed up to replace the former long-term co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
One show insider tells me: ‘Cat and Ben are seen as the saviours. They made a special trip to the studio on Sunday, which was the first and only chance they had before the launch.
‘They know one another from old and have always got on really well. They have been in touch, despite being on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but nothing could beat their first hug as This Morning’s new dream team.’
Bosses can only hope the ‘dream team’ end the period of high-profile shocks that rocked the 35-year-old show — from Schofield’s ‘unwise but not illegal’ relationship with a young employee, to Willoughby’s traumatic resignation last year following an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.
The big smiles and lightness of tone on-air yesterday from Deeley and Shephard could not have been a greater contrast to this. A message from ITV’s court jesters Ant and Dec, with whom Cat hosted music show CD:UK in the early Noughties, added to the family atmosphere.
I’m told the decision to feature the Geordie duo, aside from making Cat smile, was to remind viewers where she came from following concern among some ITV bosses that she might appear too ‘Hollywood sparkly’ for the channel’s daytime fans.
One insider said: ‘You can’t get away from the fact Cat has spent nearly 20 years in Tinseltown, so it was important to remind people she is actually home-grown, ITV talent. In the view of the most senior bosses, Cat has come home, and they want everyone to know that.’
Viewers took to social media to welcome the pair, though some bemoaned the fact little else about the programme had changed. ‘Lovely to tune into some professional presenters, instead of a giggly pair of mates who think everything is about them,’ wrote one.
Shephard and Ms Deeley met for the for the first time since the pair signed up to replace the former long-term co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Sunday
But one disappointed fan said it was a lost opportunity not to have given the show a facelift. ‘Feels like Ben & Cat are just the latest on the conveyer belt of presenters rather than it feeling like a fresh start, which it arguably should.’
It was certainly a big change for Deeley in the wardrobe department. More used to the OTT glitter of a reality TV dance show, she knew her fashion choices on the This Morning sofa would be pored over by viewers.
While her predecessor Holly used her own expensive fashion expert, Cat opted to be guided by the in-house style team, who chose a cream tweed belted mini dress from high street chain & Other Stories, priced at £135.
There was a slight tweak, with the presenter tying the belt rather than using the buckle. A source close to the star said: ‘Cat is more than aware how much what she wears on the sofa will be critiqued. She also knows it will be one of the ways she is judged by the viewers, which is what is most important to her.’
As a veteran of GMTV and the BBC’s Good Morning Britain, Shephard is used to the early breakfast show starts, and friends say they won’t bother Deeley either.
Kielty has said she springs out of bed at 5.30am every day and sings in the shower before ‘downing two coffees’ and making him feel bad for staying in bed. Though the couple are household names in the UK, both have been far bigger stars overseas for the past few years. From Tuesday to Friday, Kielty is in Ireland, where he hosts the long-running talk show, The Late Late Show.
His absence will mean Cat has a juggle on her hands, and was one of the reasons for her initial reluctance to commit to the This Morning sofa. One friend said: ‘Cat will be the ultimate working mum but for a lot of the time she will be without Patrick, who was told when he took The Late Late Show that he would have to be in Dublin most of the week.
‘Cat isn’t under any illusion that it is going to be easy, but she is a pro. She has in place the right help and support to manage both being a mum and hosting This Morning.’
Much rests on Ben and Cat — or BenCat as ITV staff have already dubbed them.
It was surprising to some that there was no big promotional push for the relaunch, but sources at the network say this was a conscious decision.
Bosses wanted the show to go back to being centred on the content rather than provoking headlines about the off-screen antics of the talent.
On its first day, that mission certainly seems to have been accomplished. ‘It was lovely there this morning,’ says a member of the production crew. ‘There was no drama and the vibe was just brilliant.’
Whether the pair can match the charisma of Schofield and Willougby in their heyday, only time will tell. But bosses will certainly be relieved that the new duo seem unlikely to reproduce the off-set turmoil.
