Life is going pretty well for Patrick Kielty and his wife Cat Deeley. The couple, who got married in September 2012, are the faces of two of the biggest shows in Irish and British telly. Cat hosts ITV’s This Morning and, of course, Patrick presents The Late Late Show. But this incredible success comes with its own challenges as Cat is in studio in London Monday to Thursday and Patrick jets into Ireland ahead of the weekend for his RTÉ TV slot and his BBC radio show. However, he isn’t one to dwell on the negatives. He tells RSVP: “There are lots of people who get up earlier than we are and see less of each other than we do. We’re quite lucky where there are days where we see each other right the way through.” Here, the Co Down man opens up about his audience with the Pope in The Vatican, his family summer in Ireland with his sons, Milo and James, and the future of The Late Late Show.
Read more: Patrick Kielty on the future of The Late Late Show, his salary and whether he'll continue as host
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Your first season on The Late Late Show was a huge success. Were there nerves starting your second run last month?
There was a curiosity about the first season and who I was and if I could walk and talk and steer the bus. I have had a long enough career to know that you take the rough with the smooth and we are still just starting out here. Whatever comes our way, comes our way. You try to make the best show you can and if you make a good show and somebody likes it, that is good. If you make a show that somebody doesn’t like and they honestly don’t like it, I don’t think you can be offended by that.
Will your wife Cat and your sons, Milo and James, get over to Dublin to watch you live?
The two boys are in bed on Friday nights. Cat wants to get over for a show on this run. There was a time last year where she ended up in Atlanta for seven weeks, which was tricky for me over here and for the boys in London. She was filming So You Think You Can Dance? for Fox. Things have settled with her working Monday to Thursday on This Morning, so there is a really good chance she will get over for one of the shows. She is on more of a stable schedule.
Is your schedule tough, she’s busy on This Morning and you’re flying between Ireland and London?
I don’t think it is, to be honest. There are lots of people who are getting up earlier than we are and see less of each other than we do. We’re quite lucky where there are days where we see each other right the way through. It’s no hardship.
When you roll back to last summer, or even 18 months ago, you weren’t the host of The Late Late Show and Cat wasn’t presenting This Morning. They’re two of the biggest shows in the UK and Ireland. Looking at where you are now, is it a bit of a pinch-me moment?
We probably could have timed it better in terms of the juggle [laughs]. I’ve always said that this is a dream job for me. For Cat, This Morning is one of the biggest jobs in TV over there. So, for the two of us to be doing two big shows like that is kind of mad.
You presented Fame Academy together all those years ago. Would you like to host This Morning with Cat at some point or would that be one step too far as a couple?
They always say, “Don’t get your money where you get your honey”. I don’t think hosting This Morning is coming down the pipeline and we’re very happy with what we’ve got.
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You said it’s a dream job, what’s it like when your dreams come true?
I was speaking to Rory McIlroy about this. Work is one part of your life. I feel really lucky to be doing this and I smile every day I come in here, but I also feel lucky at home and I’ve other things that make me smile.
You have been a very positive story for RTÉ over the past year or so. Did you get a pay rise for this season of The Late Late Show?
That deal is done and I am more than happy with what I’m currently earning.
The production of The Late Late Show is going out to tender. Would you be happy to make it in another studio away from RTÉ?
I think it’s happening, isn’t it? They’ve said The Late Late Show and Fair City will be moving at some point. They haven’t told us when we’re moving and where we’re going.
Does that worry you?
When you walk down that corridor in RTÉ and you sit in the dressing room you know that Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and Ryan Tubridy have history there, when you look at the magic that has been made there, getting your head around the idea of the show not being made in RTÉ is very, very weird. TV is about creating moments and all TV studios kind of look the same. Once you capture the same energy, that’s what’s important. You have to get on with it and make the best show possible wherever we go live from.
Will it be less of a show if it’s not made in the same studio?
I think The Late Late Show carries so much history and energy that no matter where it’s made it will still feel special. I bumped into actor Emmett J Scanlon at a Manchester United game recently and he was talking about the show and he asked if he could come on it. There will also be an aura around the show.
You signed a contract to host The Late Late Show for three years, have you thought about renewing it?
I haven’t thought about that, at all.
Do you want to stay on?
I love doing the show and if there was a chance to keep doing it, it would be nice. I’m not in charge of these things, you never know what’s going to happen in the world of entertainment.
Gay Byrne did it for 37 years!
I know, I was thinking about that the other day. What would that leave me age wise? [laughs] People might not want to see me sitting in that chair for three years or seven years, let alone 37 years. Let’s see what happens! I’m about to go into a run of 30 shows this season, so let’s take it one run at a time.
You got to meet the Pope during the summer. What was that like?
That was like a weird fever dream, if I am being honest with you. There was a point when that call came in… as a comedian, your antenna is up as to wondering what is real. I thought it was a joke and I got to the airport and I bumped into Stephen Merchant from The Office and he looked at me and I looked at him and he nodded “Rome”. We both breathed this sigh of relief. We were all outside The Vatican at half six in the morning, it was an early morning audience. I rocked up and Tommy Tiernan and Ardal O’Hanlon were there. Whoopi Goldberg arrived in a car and she was by far the most popular person in The Vatican that day. Sister Act is apparently very big [laughs].
Things didn’t go to plan though, isn’t that right?
We are doing up our house and I was lifting the loft insulation and I thought
I got it in my face because I had swollen up. It was only me, Chris Rock and Jimmy Fallon wearing sunglasses in The Vatican. They are two stars, so you could see everyone else looking at me thinking, ‘Well, they are famous, he is clearly a w****r’. I had to take the glasses off to meet the Pope and I could see him physically recoiling as he questioned what was going on with me. It was only afterwards that I figured out that I had shingles, so there was a chance I had given the Pope shingles. I was never so glad to see him in full health the following week given a blessing. It was a surreal experience.
Would you ever consider moving back to Ireland full time?
We’ve got the best of both worlds at the minute. I’ve had my house in Dundrum for 25 years now and I’ve always been back and forth. The kids are in school in London and Cat works in London, she’s there four days a week. I can just about come to Dublin to do what I do, but she’s in ITV four days a week. I can’t see us moving to Ireland anytime soon, but I always call Dundrum home. I had the boys there during the summer and the eldest fella played in a GAA blitz. He said “Are we moving back to Dundrum, dad? This would be great”. There’s no plan yet.
Is it a big culture shock for the boys when they arrive from London to Dundrum?
No, they live their very best life there. I’m more than happy to feed them fish and chips and give them ice cream. They go to their granny to get spoiled. When they return to school with all the rules and regulations they look at Dundrum as the greatest place in the world. They love it.
The Late Late Show airs on RTÉ One & RTÉ Player on Fridays from 9:35pm.
This interview with Patrick Kielty appeared in the October issue of RSVP Magazine
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