Cat Deeley has said she ‘doesn’t need’ to do This Morning and could be a stay at home mum if she wanted to as she spoke for the first time on the intense viewer reaction to her joining the show with Ben Shephard

Cat Deeley has opened up about backlash to her joining This MorningCat Deeley has opened up about the intense scrutiny she’s come under since becoming a main presenter on This Morning.

The star has said in new interview that if the backlash ramps up she ‘will quit’ as she doesn’t ‘need’ to do the ITV show. Cat and Good Morning Britian star Ben Shephard were drafted in to replace Holly Willoughby and Phil Schofield after they suddenly quit last year.

Cat said the response to her appearance on the showCat Deeley reveals when she’ll quit This Morning after being stunned by fan reaction “shocked her” and added: “Everyone keeps checking in with me, ‘Are you OK? Are you handling this all right?’

“I don’t care. I do not care. If it gets too much for me I’m going to quit. I don’t need to do it. I could stop and be a mum for most of the year, and then go and do the shows in America.”

“There is no ulterior motive for me doing this,” she added.

Cat Deeley and Ben Shepherd will return as This Morning presenters next week
Deeley, who has two children with Northern Irish comedian and The Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty, has hosted US talent show So You Think You Can Dance for most of its 18 seasons.

She says she did not have the same reception in the US and called increased focus on her a “very British thing”. Deeley added the social media complaints are from “some nameless, faceless person at the end of a keyboard?”

“It doesn’t even touch the sides,” she added.

(Image: (Image: ITV))

Cat replaced Holly Willoughby on the show who used to co-host This Morning with Phillip Schofield before he left ITV over an “unwise, but not illegal” affair, will host a new Netflix show in which adventurer Bear Grylls hunts down celebrities in the jungle.

She is also set to host ITV gameshow You Bet! with Stephen Mulhern. Stephen replaced Schofield to present Dancing On Ice on ITV with Willoughby.

Cat also praised Holly Willoughby for supporting her taking over as a lead presenter on This Morning.

Holly, 43, departed the ITV morning programme last year, saying she was having to make the decision for herself and her family.

It also came amid allegations of a plot to kidnap, rape and murder her emerged. Security guard Gavin Plumb was later jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years.

Deeley, who along with Willoughby was a presenter for a spell on children’s music chart show CD became co-host of This Morning with former Good Morning Britain star Ben Shephard earlier this year.

Recalling Willoughby’s support, the 47-year-old told the Sunday Times: “Holly sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers and a handwritten card.”

“It was a really classy move, it really touched me.”

“At some stage, once the dust settles, I’m sure we will get together.”

“People always talk about women being pitted against other women, but actually it’s just not true.”