Cat Deeley is always a picture of composure as she meets the challenges of presenting unpredictable televisions shows for our viewing pleasure. As her latest gig, The Joe Schmo Show illustrates, just one slip-up on set could cause the cast and crew to revolt. So how does this star find her calm before the storm of each day? It’s all about early morning yoga sessions, Deeley tells M&F.
It’s hard to believe that Cat Deeley has been on television for more than 25 years, first appearing on the children’s show SMTV Live in 1998 and later moving into primetime television. While Deeley is fondly known to fellow Brits for her early on-screen partnership with Ant and Dec, U.S. fans on the other side of the pond will recall her hosting So You Think You Can Dance and presenting Fox’s New Year’s Eve Special from Times Square.
While this presenter’s resume includes being a children’s author, an actor, and a patron of London’s Great Ormand Street Hospital, she is also a loving mother to two sons and has now entered what is perhaps the busiest era of her career to date. In the UK, Deeley has taken up the duties as co-presenter on This Morning, and is now promoting her recently wrapped project The Joe Schmo Show in the U.S.
My first question is simple: How on earth does she fit it all in? “With Grandma and Grandad, and an amazing nanny,” explains the star while making a juggling gesture with her arms!
Cat Deeley Stays Composed in the Chaotic World of Television
For The Joe Schmo Show, Deeley’s brief is to present what seems like a standard reality-show based competition, until you learn that everyone is an actor except for the one contestant who has been given the role of Joe. In this case, Ben Frisone, an electrician from Baltimore, puts himself through all manner of insane challenges to win $100,000. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s the only one who thinks the show is real. All of the other contestants are in on the joke, and they are only there to increase the tension and hilarity in equal measure.
I ask Deeley how she stays composed while explaining the various tasks to Frisone, such as the requirement for him to wade through excrement in order to be the first to find a golden nugget. “I actually don’t know,” she confides with all honesty. Of course, her skillset is honed and her chops as an experienced television personality were in full force here, as she helped to raise the comedy stakes. But the host almost turned down the job through fear of being involved with anything that might turn out to be cruel to the contestant.
“I said I don’t know, if the idea is that I’m going to have to be really mean,” she says of some early conversations. “This guy, he’s the only one who doesn’t know that this show has been [scripted] and I’m like, I’m not your girl.” But because Deeley had collaborated with the show’s producer going back to her days working for MTV, there was a level of trust that finally persuaded her to sign-on. The star says the beauty of The Joe Schmo Show in 2025 is that it is able to find a balance between being “an improv and funny,” while “not pushing Ben too far the other way.”
Still, had Deeley made just one verbal mistake or laughed in the wrong place and given up the game, the crew would have needed to scramble to salvage the whole season. It’s the type of pressure that Deeley also faces each day on This Morning, the live magazine style show where anything can and often does go wrong. Deeley says she is no “gym bunny,” but has found her own path to serenity outside of the unpredictable world of TV with yoga.
Cat Deeley Says Yoga Helps Her Meet Her Daily Demands
“I’m not really very flexible,” says the star. “So, actually, the yoga really works for me … It makes me breathe and calms down my mind at the same time. I can do it wherever I want to do it.” Deeley says that while she started out her yoga path with various in-person teachers, she is now able to hop online and be guided through a pre-recorded session. “I do it that way instead, so I can fit in whenever I need to do,” she says. “Around two small boys and working.” The presenter tells M&F that she aims for 30-minute daily sessions.
Her busy weekday routine begins when the alarm clock goes off at 5am and the star makes a drink containing celery, ginger, and lemon: a revitalizing shot of antioxidants that also aids with digestion. Deeley then finds some early morning peace with her 30 minutes of yoga before sipping a coffee and hitting the shower. By the time Deeley leaves the house at 6.20am precisely, she is raring to get to the This Morning studio in London.
Yoga is, of course, a great way for busy people to balance their health and fitness with mindfulness. One major scientific review has concluded that “almost all of the participants described that doing yoga has positive benefits on the mind and body.” Those benefits include working on Deeley’s flexibility while helping her to alleviate any aches and pains and even promoting better sleep quality. All these points are paramount for an in-demand television presenter.
Cat Deeley Schedules Intermittent Fasting Around Work
The star says that she didn’t take up intermittent fasting as a means of calorie restriction or losing weight, but her busy family life and career made her take a look at exactly when her own optimum eating times might be. These days, Deeley likes to sit down at the table with the fam (she is married to comedian Patrick Kielty) and finishes dinner by around 7pm. She next eats a meal at 11.30am the next day, while in the studio at This Morning, tasting the food of the celebrity guest chef of the day. “It just seems to work for me,” she explains. When the star does have some time off, Deeley loves the great outdoors and engaging in activities like surfing or horse riding. No doubt, her next vacation will be well-earned but for now, at least she is able to navigate each crazy day with a sensible approach to health and fitness.
The Joe Schmo Show Season 4 airs on TBS and is now available to stream on the TBS app.
