Patrick Kielty and Cat Deeley's 'real reason' for shock split after 13 years of marriage

On Tuesday, TV stars Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty shocked fans by announcing their splitafter more than a decade of marriage in a bombshell statement.

Now, insiders have revealed the 'real reason' behind the former couple's seemingly sudden split after 13-years of marriage. Patrick, 54, and Cat, 48, sent shockwaves when they confirmed their split joint statementto the PA news agency.

Their statement read: “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.”

The former couple met while hosting BBC's Fame Academy together in 2002, but it wasn't until 2011 that they finally decided to take their friendship to a romantic level. The two wed a year laterin September 2012 at a ceremony in Rome and have two children, Milo, 9, and James, 6, together.

Following their shock split, insiders have now claimed that their equally busy work schedules got in the way and drove a wedge between their marriage.

Cat has hosted ITV’s This Morning alongside Ben Shephard since early last year, and previously lived in Los Angeles for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, Northern Irish presenter Patrick is the host of RTE talk show The Late Late Show, having taken over from Ryan Tubridy in 2023.

Despite living in the UK, Patrick would travel to Dublin every week to present the show from the RTE studios. Due to their clashing schedules, it became difficult for Patrick and Cat to spend quality time together, according to insiders.

Shedding light on the apparent reason behind their marriage split, the source said: "It is such sad news. They were so happy after they moved back to London, and would talk about their grand plans to renovate the house for the family.

"But sadly, as so often happens with relationships, work got in the way and it put a huge strain on the marriage."

The insider told Mail Online: "When Cat took the This Morning job in 2024, they were becoming more and more like ships in the night.

"Patrick, in particular, has been spending more time in his native Dundrum where he has had a home for 25 years. His aunt died on Christmas Eve, and his mother's health was up and down before her death in March. His brothers John and Cahal have been such a comfort to him."

The sad news of their split comes following concerns from fans that the couple would struggle with their different schedules when Cat and co-host Ben Shephard took over from Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV's This Morning.

It has even been claimed that Cat and Patrick were living separate lives before their shock split was announced on Tuesday.

However, Patrick previously hit back at the idea that the TV stars were struggling to spend time together, insisting they had developed a routine that worked for them and their two sons.

When asked by The Times if the couple were like "ships passing in the night", Patrick denied this “because Cat’s doing her stuff in the morning, she would normally be back just after lunchtime".

The comedian added: “And we’ve got the start of the week and the weekends together, so it’s not ‘Hi/bye’.”

Despite providing a positive outlook on the situation during the interview, Patrick also acknowledged that the couple went through a "tricky" period when Cat had to film So You Think You Can Dance in the US for seven weeks.

He recalled: “There was a moment after Christmas that was tricky, when Cat’s show [So You Think You Can Dance] came back in America, and she had to fly to Atlanta for seven weeks.

"There was a wee bit of a juggle there. But I think with all these things, as long as you have a routine, it doesn’t take as much fizz out of you as some people think.”

However, just a couple months on from Patrick's comments, he and Cat announced their separation.

Prior to their unexpected announcement, the couple had moved their family from Los Angeles to London in 2023, and Patrick was commuting to his job on The Late Late Show. It came after living in the States for 15 years.

They hadn't been pictured together in public for over a year, however, and Cat also missed Patrick's mother's funeral in March.

At the time, a spokesperson told the Mirror that Cat had remained at home to care for their sons, explaining: "Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day."

The Mirror has approached Patrick and Cat's respective representatives for comment on this story.

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