Cat Deeley in talks to return to ITV primetime with new Saturday night gameshow after return to the UK
JUST a few weeks after moving back to this country, Cat Deeley has a big-money telly comeback lined up.
She is in advanced talks with ITV about fronting a new gameshow, having recorded a pilot episode on Saturday.
An insider said: “Cat is a huge name and found fame on ITV so to welcome her back would be a real coup for the channel.
“She was approached to front a new gameshow. It’s a big-money game and is a totally new concept that’s not been seen before.
"Cat filmed the pilot on Saturday and it was a really successful day.
“If the pilot is given the green light, the dream is to get Cat signed up as the host and launch it as a series.
“Her team are negotiating a big deal but nothing is signed just yet.
"The show is perfect for a Saturday primetime spot and is really family friendly, so it’s totally on-brand for Cat.”
The popular presenter quit the US last month, returning to these shores with her comedian husband Patrick Kielty and their son Milo after 14 years across the Pond.
She hasn’t had a major UK telly gig since moving Stateside in 2006 but Cat hasn’t lost her magic touch.
In August The Sun revealed how Cat was reuniting with her SMTV Live co-stars Ant and Dec for a one-off episode to mark the 30th anniversary of the ITV kids’ show.
They recorded the special last month and it sounds like the reunion was an emotional affair, with Cat later revealing that Ant had shed tears during filming.
I for one can’t wait to have Cat back on our screens. British telly has missed her.
Michelle looking spot on as Erin
MICHELLE Keegan shows off her wild side and her backside on the set of sitcom Brassic.
She was back filming after production on the third series of the Sky show was halted last month following a member of crew testing positive for coronavirus.
Michelle, who had to take a Covid test herself, was spotted in an animal-print jacket with matching mask as she returns as mum Erin Croft.
Although Brassic is a comedy, it’s a part she takes very seriously.
She told the PlotTwist podcast: “A lot of the time you see working-class mums portrayed in a dark way and hard done by, but Erin doesn’t feel like that.
"She’s ambitious and that’s how I wanted her to be portrayed, in a positive way.”
Being positive is great, so long as we’re not talking about Covid again.
bizbit
ANNE Nolan has shared some “amazing” good news in her battle with cancer.
Appearing on Lorraine following surgery, she said: “They found no cancer in any of the tissue that they took from the breast and from my lymph nodes.”
A labour of laughs for Daisy
TASKMASTER is used to putting its guest comics in all manner of challenging and humorous situations.
But the new series of the comedy contest almost put Daisy May Cooper – the seven-months pregnant star of This Country – in labour.
At one stage, hosts Greg Davies and Alex Horne were unsure if she was about to give birth or just in fits of laughter, so they had producers check her waters hadn’t broken.
Ahead of the series kicking off tomorrow, Greg said: “She’s a big laugher, she laughs very easily, and on many, many occasions I had to double check that we were dealing with a laugh here and not something else.”
The show, which has jumped from Dave to Channel 4, also sees Johnny Vegas take part as he battles a mid-life crisis.
The comic said: “I’m trying not to have a mid-life crisis. I could have just bought a sports car, couldn’t I? Or something less ludicrous.
"But some guy was moving to Australia and said this Maltese bus needed rescuing, so I bought it.
“As far as a mid-life crisis goes, I don’t think restoring a bus is quite as embarrassing as buying a Lamborghini.”
I owe Hollyoaks for so much, says Kieron
HOLLYOAKS star Kieron Richardson reckons that without the show he wouldn’t be married or have children.
The actor, who has played bad boy Ste Hay since 2006, said he owes so much to the soap, which is why he’ll never walk away for good.
He said: “I get quite protective over him and the show and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities that it’s given me in my personal life.
“I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have children now if it wasn’t for being in the show. I probably wouldn’t be married now, or I probably wouldn’t have come out so publicly.
“All of these things that have made my life a lot greater are because of being in this show.
“So I don’t think I would ever be like, ‘Thank you, I’m done’.”
He added: “I would like to be in it for as long as possible, and watch Leah and Lucas have their children and hopefully Ste will still be bobbing about in his tracksuit.”
Well if Jeremy Edwards' Hollyoaks character can return from the dead, I don’t see that being a problem.
bizbit
PACKED Lunch presenter Steph McGovern will host Have I Got News For You on October 30.
She will be joined on the BBC1 show by comedian Miles Jupp and former Conservative Party co-Chairwoman Baroness Warsi.
Chris: I'd do Love Island again
AFTER failed romances with reality star Olivia Attwood and Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson, Chris Hughes thinks heading back into the Love Island villa might help.
Opening up on tonight’s Love Island: What Happened Next, the reality TV star admits he’d happily sign up for another series.
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He says on the ITV2 show: “I’d do anything to go back there. I’m very glad I did it.”
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Talking about his relationship with his ex Olivia, he added: “I don’t regret anything. It was a good experience. When the relationship was good, it was good. We had some great times together.
“But not everything lasts and that is the beauty of life.”
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