This Morning presenter Cat Deeley has opened up about her time in the USA and how she realised she needed to move back to the UK with her young family as the threat of gun crime became ‘real’
Cat Deeley has slammed gun laws in the USA(Image: Getty Images for BFC)
Cat Deeley has explained how gun crimes in the USA pushed her to quit the country and move back to the kids to raise her children in safer climes. The 49-year-old television presenter is a mother to two sons, Milo, eight, and James, six, who she shares with ex-husband Patrick Kielty.
Cat and 55-year-old Patrick lived in the United States for 15 years before moving back to the UK in 2020 – and they shocked fans when they announced their split five years later. While in the USA, Patrick and Mile were alarmed to find themselves being evacuated from a shopping centre when an active shooter was in the area.
And Cat was later disturbed to be shown gun shelter rooms in schools that she was visiting as prospective institutions for her kids. The TV star – who has been hosting ITV’s This Morning since 2024 – has explained that these factors pushed her and Patrick towards leaving the USA.
She told The Times: “I don’t think America will change its gun control laws. When we were looking around schools, we were shown the safe room children go to when there is a live shooter. It made me realise how [school shootings] are real. They are a problem.”
She continued: “I moved back to the UK because I wanted the boys to be educated here. London is a melting pot. I like that there is very little segregation and I think it’s important that [my sons] see different types of people from different backgrounds.”
In an earlier interview with YOU Magazine, Cat had previously detailed the horror her family endured in the USA when they found themselves caught in the midst of a gun scare while out and about in Los Angeles. The incident cemented the fears the TV star held over gun crimes in the USA.
She told the magazine: “That danger became even more real last summer when Milo and his father went to the Century City Mall in LA after morning nursery.
“The FBI turned up with guns and ordered everyone to take cover under counters or hide because a shooter was on the loose.”
She recounted that her young son and then-husband were then ordered to take cover in a burger restaurant while the gunman drew closer. She said: “They shut down the centre. I got a call from Paddy, saying, ‘They’re taking us out through the fire exits but nobody can get to their car. If we walk to a junction, can you come and get us?’
“It was terrifying. Paddy was shaken by it, more than Milo, who was hot and cranky but didn’t properly understand.”
The This Morning star now lives in London with her children – while Patrick reportedly lives in Dundrum, County Down, in Northern Ireland. The former couple have explained that they co-parent their children following their split.
Announcing their shock split in July last year, explaining in a statement: “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.”
Last month, reports suggested Cat was back on the dating scene and in the early stages of a romance with Amazon MGM executive Charlie Coleman. The pair were spotted together at a Lewis Capaldi concert – sparking reports the former SM:TV Live star had found a new beau.
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