Cat Deeley reunites with the Hollywood producer who launched her US presenting career after 30 years of 'unbreakable friendship'

Cat Deeley shared a series of sweet snaps as she reunited with Hollywood producer, Jeff Thacker, on Monday. 

The This Morning host, 49, beamed from ear to ear as she caught up with the executive producer, who helped launch her US presenting career 30 years ago, over a glass of red wine. 

Sharing the sweet reunion snaps to Instagram, Cat captioned the post: 'Full circle moment …. Almost 30 years ago @jeffthacker and I had lunch before I started filming for ‘Stars In Their Eyes’!

She continued: 'He took me to the Ivy and said ‘Now you tell me all the reasons that will make you make it!’

'So silly… the arrogance of youth! Thankfully I had a great mentor and what would be an unbreakable friendship!'

In 2003, Cat co-presented the talent show Fame Academy on BBC One before becoming the presenter of ITV talent show Stars in Their Eyes.

Following the final series of the talent show in 2006, Cat began hosting the reality competition show, So You Think You Can Dance, in the United States, for which she has been nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy. 

Just last week, Cat jumped on the 2016 viral trend, sharing photos of her life in Los Angeles.

The TV star spent 14 years living and working in the US, fronting several shows and hitting red carpet events with Hollywood stars.

Looking back ten years, Cat shared a series of glam snaps as she declared, 'Heels were high, filters were strong and my hand made a permanent peace sign!' 

The snaps showed the presenter on the set of TV shows and glammed up in sparkly mini dresses for wild nights out with her girlfriends.

Replying to a comment from her stylist friend Charlie Brear, Cat laughed that their looks for their nights out consisted of 'dry shampoo and a dress out a case for the win!'

2016 was also the year that Cat gave birth to her first child, son Milo, with the star sharing a sweet throwback of herself playing with her baby boy on Halloween.

Cat and her now ex-husband, Patrick Kielty, started their family whilst living in LA, welcoming their second son, James, in 2018, but in 2020 they returned to the UK.

Cat has presented This Morning alongside Ben Shephard since 2024, after the ITV show underwent a presenter shakeup following the departures of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

As well as the pull of family and the This Morning job, the star also revealed another major factor for the move, explaining how she and Patrick became disillusioned with LA life following a terrifying gun incident.

In a previous interview with YOU Mag, the former SM:TV host discussed her anxiety surrounding a possible school shooting when her kids would start in the future.

Her fears became a reality when her family had to escape the mall shooting as she explained: 'That danger became even more real last summer when Milo and his father went to the Century City Mall in LA after morning nursery.

'The FBI turned up with guns and ordered everyone to take cover under counters or hide because a shooter was on the loose.'

Patrick and Milo were forced to take cover in a Shake Shack kitchen when they first discovered a gunman had entered the building.

Cat said her husband was trying to keep their son calm so he didn't understand the danger and enormity of the situation.

She added: 'They shut down the centre. I got a call from Paddy, saying, “They’re taking us out through the fire exits but nobody can get to their car. If we walk to a junction, can you come and get us?”

'It was terrifying. Paddy was shaken by it, more than Milo, who was hot and cranky but didn’t properly understand.’

Cat now lives in London with her sons, co-parenting with Patrick, whom she split from last year.

The couple announced their plans to divorce in a joint statement in July, confirming they had decided to end their 13-year marriage and would remain united as parents.

The Daily Mail previously revealed how Patrick's family were seething over Cat's failure to attend his beloved mother's funeral months before the split – and say they knew at that moment their marriage was over for good.

Her 'no show' back in March has left deep emotional scars within the Kielty family, who say it confirmed for them that there was little chance of a reconciliation between the two.

A spokesperson for Cat told the Daily Mail at the time: 'Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day.'

Cat and Patrick first met in 2002 while they hosted BBC talent show Fame Academy, but they did not become an item until ten years later.

Previously Cat told how Patrick turned their friendship into a romance by flying all the way from Belfast to Los Angeles, where the Birmingham-born star hosted So You Can Dance for a celebratory brunch.

The pair first went public with their relationship in May 2012, and in September the same year, they married during an intimate ceremony in Rome.