Patrick Kielty returned to his BBC Radio 5 Live show this morning for the first time since his split with Cat Deeley was announced and he was in jovial mood in the opening minutes


Patrick Kielty returned to his radio duties after his breakup with Cat Deeley(Image: PA)

Patrick Kielty has returned to the radio for the first time since announcing his shock split with Cat Deeley – and he joked about “missing out” on a job at Match of the Day.

The Northern Irish comedian and presenter married the This Morning star in Rome in 2012 and they went on to have two children together. However, their love story has since come to an end, and Patrick addressed the nation on his BBC 5 Live return. Opening up his show, he said: “It’s lovely to be back. We are coming to you from sunny Belfast and we’ve got Michael Andrew looking after things here.

“We’ve got Sammy and Craig looking after things in London. It takes a village folks to make this show sound so average, but it is not just me who is back… Oh no, what is this? It is a little welcome back letter from the head of the BBC.”

In self-deprecating joke, the Match of the Day theme tune then played, and Patrick read out: “Dear Mr Kielty, thank you so much for your application to be a host on Match of the Day. Unfortunately every other host employed by the BBC is currently working hosting on this show therefore we don’t need your services. Don’t call us, we will call you, Tim Davie.

“Thanks for that Tim, I shouldn’t have read that out on air!”


The celeb couple announced their split at the end of July (Image: PA)

Match of the Day returns tonight after the Premier League kicked off yesterday (August 15) and the hosts replacing Gary Linekar are Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates.

Cat, 48, and Patrick, 54, met while hosting BBC’s Fame Academy together in 2002 before making their first appearance as a couple in 2011.

Patrick, who is the host of The Late Late Show in Ireland, previously opened up on Loose Women about how their friendship turned to romance.

He said: “There was a moment, we always used to keep in contact, it was her birthday, and she was in Beverly Hills and I was in Dundrum (County Down).

“And obviously LA are eight hours behind, it was around tea time with her. I texted her happy birthday from a little Irish pub. It was around two-o-clock in the morning, approaching closing time.

“And she said, ‘It is just a shame you are not in LA because I’m having a lunch tomorrow’ – so I said I will be there.


They have two sons together who are eight and six (Image: Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)

“So I got up at five, jumped on a six-o-clock flight from Ireland, got into Heathrow at seven, and jumped on a 20 to 10 flight, got in at quarter past one, walked into the Beverly Hills Hotel. I said ‘hi’, she fell off the chair, and we have been together ever since.”

In a joint statement to the PA news agency last month, Cat and Patrick 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.”