Loyal This Morning viewers have noticed something different about Cat Deeley’s accent recently.
Despite hailing from near Birmingham, rarely has her Brummie twang been heard over the three decades she has been presenting shows on both sides of the Atlantic – until now.
Fans of the ITV show, which she began hosting a little over a year ago, have detected a more pronounced West Midlands accent. And, I’m told, they love it.
Cat, 48, who catapulted to fame in the late 1990s when she began presenting morning pop programme CD:UK with Ant and Dec, is clearly happy to return to her roots.
Born in West Bromwich, she grew up in the Birmingham suburbs of Sutton Coldfield and Great Barr, where classrooms would have been full of school children pronouncing ‘funny’ as ‘funn-ay’ and ‘singer’ as ‘sin-ga’.
But not Cat, or at least not when she got her big showbiz break on children’s TV – no doubt aware that back then producers weren’t as open as they are now to regional accents.
Now things are different, as the popularity of Cat’s This Morning co-star Alison Hammond, who proudly flaunts her Brummie vowels, shows. The once maligned accent has also been given a gritty makeover through the success of the Birmingham-based gangland drama Peaky Blinders.
For Cat, it has done wonders for her relatability with ITV viewers – something that This Morning bosses didn’t feel was a given after her glittering career in the US.
Cat Deeley, 48, catapulted to fame in the late 1990s when she began presenting morning pop programme CD:UK with Ant and Dec
Cat with co-host Ben Shephard, a show insider shared that there were concerns about how she and Ben had barely met in years
ITV’s director of television Kevin Lygo was determined to sign her to replace Holly Willoughby on the famous sofa but because Cat spent 15 years in Los Angeles presenting one of America’s biggest shows, So You Think You Can Dance, there were reservations that she was ‘too Tinseltown’.
She was undeniably ‘Hollywood’, which I pointed out to ITV at a lunch where they asked if I thought she was too glamorous to host their flagship daytime programme. But I said she would be a triumph, not least because she is an enormously talented presenter, having ‘cracked’ America.
As an ITV insider tells me now: ‘This Morning viewers want presenters they can relate to. They don’t want big Hollywood stars because they don’t have anything in common with them.
‘So while Cat was the woman they wanted – and they had to jump through hoops to get her and nearly didn’t in fact – there were worries she was too perfect and preened.
‘But Cat was aware of her audience, she’s a clever woman, and she didn’t want anyone to think she is a diva.’
It isn’t just her accent that Cat, who is married to Irish television host Patrick Kielty, 54, has tweaked. While presenting So You Think You Can Dance, she was known for her stunning designer clothes and very high heels. Yet on This Morning recently, I noticed she was wearing the same £45 dress from Marks & Spencer that I had just bought. A black and gold dress, it is one of the high street chain’s biggest bargains.
Under the hashtag Cat’s Closet, she features her outfits on Instagram, including non-designer numbers from the likes of high street chains Mango and Zara. Her shoes are hardly Jimmy Choo, either, but from Dune where heels cost around £80 rather than £800. In fact, unlike many of her ITV co-stars, Cat also shunned the opportunity to have her own stylist and instead opted for those employed by the broadcaster.
Meanwhile, viewers will have noticed how frequently her children come up in conversation. Cat clearly feels relaxed about discussing her sons, Milo, eight, and James, six, which will help improve that relatability with the many mums who watch at home.
ITV were determined to sign her to replace Holly Willoughby, Cat had spent 15 years in Los Angeles presenting one of America’s biggest shows, So You Think You Can Dance
Then, of course, there is her friendship with co-host Ben Shephard, 50.
Anyone who knows him will say he is divine to be around but flashy he isn’t. In fact, many who have worked with him describe him as ‘boring Ben’. But Cat has managed to forge a strong and apparently genuine relationship with him – and quickly.
‘Another concern about Cat was that she and Ben had barely met in years,’ says a show insider. ‘So there were worries that things might not have gelled, especially as Cat was fresh out of Hollywood while Ben had spent years as second in command to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain. But it has worked and it’s lovely.’
Those behind the scenes are also said to ‘love’ Cat and, after an annus horribilis with the Phillip Schofield fallout, they find This Morning an enjoyable place to work again. ‘Cat might have lived in Hollywood for a long time, and worked with some massive stars, but you’d never think it when she walks into the studio,’ says one staff member. ‘She’s a breath of fresh air. She’s funny, she’s kind and she doesn’t take herself too seriously.’
ITV bosses are also thrilled. There were calls for This Morning to be axed in 2023 when I revealed that Schofield had had an affair with a much younger and far more junior colleague – and repeatedly lied about it. He also used press regulator IPSO to adjudicate in his favour after this newspaper ran an earlier story on the affair.
He later issued an apology for being dishonest and quit the broadcaster where he had worked for three decades. His lies also shattered the friendship he had with Ms Willoughby.
She stayed on This Morning for seven months after Schofield’s departure but quit after she learned that she was the target of a kidnap, rape and murder plot by former security guard Gavin Plumb.
‘It was the most challenging time you can imagine,’ added the staff member. ‘It was one thing after another. It was so frustrating and at times so sad that there were lots of tears behind the scenes.’
Today, the viewing figures are healthy but what ITV bosses are most relieved about is that the toxic headlines have stopped. ‘Now people are watching This Morning to learn about the news and entertainment,’ says one source.
‘Instead of it being the news and entertainment. A lot of that is down to Cat – and Ben.’ A few choice dresses and the odd Brummie inflection hasn’t done any harm, either.
