Cat Deeley's heartbreak over lavish wedding with Patrick Kielty

Cat Deeley bravely shared a heartbreaking moment from before her lavish wedding to Patrick Kielty. The television presenters announced their separation earlier this week after more than a decade of marriage.

This Morning presenter Cat, 48, and Irish presenter Patrick, 54, met while presenting BBC Fame Academy in 2002. They hosted two series of the show together in 2002.

They tied the knot in Rome in September 2012, just nine months after they began dating. They were joined by 100 guests at an intimate ceremony conducted by Belfast-based priest Father Gary Donegan.

READ MORE: The Masked Singer's Mo Gilligan's slammed as 'deadbeat dad' by mother of secret baby

READ MORE: Patrick Kielty’s heartbreaking final post about Cat Deeley as she wipes him from feed

Cat has previously revealed that her grandfather couldn’t attend the destination wedding because he was too unwell to travel. The former couple recorded the ceremony for him, but he died before he could actually watch it.

The star opened up about the heartbreak when asked about her “biggest regret” by Grazia magazine in 2017. She replied: “He died before he saw it. The good thing is we love it and, after two glasses of wine, Patrick and I put it on like a pair of losers."

Fans of the couple were left stunned when details of their wedding appeared. Especially because Patrick denied they were engaged just months before they said “I do”.

Cat even picked out her wedding dress before the couple were planning to walk down the aisle. Speaking on Lorraine in 2021, she said: “Mine [wedding dress]is in the cupboard somewhere but I'd actually already got my dress before... It wasn't because I was feeling lucky, I promise! It was a couture dress from Alexander McQueen - a shift white dress.

"It was so beautiful that I just couldn't not buy it and I hadn't even met Paddy at that stage. I literally put it in my cupboard and I was like I'll wear it to something... I'll wear it to some awards. There you go.”

Cat and Patrick share two children together. Announcing their separation this week, they said: “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."

Cat rose to fame while presenting SM:TV Live alongside Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. While she met Patrick in 2002 on Fame Academy, the pair didn’t become romantically involved for almost a decade.

RTE presenter Patrick says he won Cat over with a huge romantic gesture. He told The Daily Mail: told the Daily Mail: "Unless someone was stupid enough to get on a plane, nothing would have happened.

"Cat was in LA and I was in Northern Ireland, so I texted her to wish her a happy birthday. When she said she was having a birthday lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel, I said I'd be there. She told me to go to sleep as I was drunk.

"That was 2am. I got up at 5am, went to Belfast airport for 6am, got the 7.15am flight to Heathrow, landed at 8.30am, took off again at 9.40am and arrived in LA at 1.15pm."

The couple lived in America while Cat presented So You Think You Can Dance. They however returned to the UK in 2020.