Cat Deeley

Popular British television host Cat Deeley was born Catherine Deeley on Oct. 23, 1976. As a child in the West Midlands, she dreamed of someday becoming a TV presenter (as the position is called in the UK), and made her first steps towards the public eye when the teen landed a modeling contract with Storm, one of the UK’s leading agencies. But with her outgoing and bubbling personality, the model was not satisfied with just being a famous face. In 1997, she began appearing as a VJ on MTV UK, and the following year, made her big on-air breakthrough as co-host of the popular Saturday kids show “SMTV” (1998-2003), earning a Children’s Television BAFTA award for her work in 2001. Deeley had also earned a significant adult following as evidenced by her slot as FHM magazine’s seventh sexiest woman that same year.

In 2002, Deeley was tapped to host “SM: TV” spin-off “CD: UK Hotshots” (ITV, 1998-2006), a music-oriented show featuring in-studio performances and interviews with pop acts, before she found a home in the growing field of talent/reality programming. She first established herself as a friendly and conversational presenter on the look-a-like talent contest, “Stars in Their Eyes” (ITV, 1990-2006). Deeley moved to the United States in 2006 and introduced herself to American audiences as a judge on the popular series “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox, 2005- ). From there, the affable British blonde was tapped to be a red carpet correspondent for “Good Morning America” (ABC, 1973- ) and hosted two consecutive televised New Year’s Eve specials from Times Square (Fox). In 2008, Deeley returned for a second season on “So You Think You Can Dance” and jetted back to Britain to host a new dating show, “The Big Match.”