The couple tied the knot in Rome back in 2012 just nine months after going official

The former couple share two young children together(Image: Getty Images)

Patrick Kielty has broken his silence as he returned to work for the first time following his and Cat Deeley’s split.

Irish comedian Patick and This Morning presenter Cat and confirmed their split in a joint statement last month to the shock of their fans.

They said to the PA news agency: “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 and Patrick met all the way back in 2002 when they were picked to co-host the BBC talent show Fame Academy, which ran for two seasons.

While they would go on to become one of the TV world’s most popular couples, the pair remained friends for a number of years before going official in 2012, going on to tie the knot later that year.

The couple, who are parents to two sons, Milo, seven, and James, five, moved back to the UK from America in 2020, prior to Cat landing the This Morning job and Patrick taking over Ireland’s biggest talk show The Late Late Show from Ryan Tubridy.

Saturday morning (August 16) saw Patrick returning to his weekend radio programme on BBC 5 Live, where he made no reference to his recent breakup.

Cat and Patrick initially met when they co-hosted BBC talent show Fame Academy(Image: Getty Images)

“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,” he teased.

Patrick went on to read a fake letter from the director-general of the BBC Tim Davie, in a joke about him wanting to be the new presenter of Match of the Day following Gary Linekar’s departure.

He read: “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.”

Poking fun at himself, Patrick added: “Thanks for that Tim, I shouldn’t have read that out on air!”

Match of the Day’s return on Saturday night for the first batch of highlights from the 25/26 Premier League season will be fronted by Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan.