Cat Deeley’s future on This Morning has seemingly been decided (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
ITV host Cat Deeley will reportedly stay on the This Morning sofa – but not for much longer.
The 48-year-old presenter joined the daytime chat show in February alongside co-host Ben Shephard and is now said to have signed a new 12-month contract which comes into effect from March 2025.
The contract reportedly ensures Cat’s near-daily presence on the show until spring 2026 and pays up an eye-watering £600,000.
After it runs out, however, it looks like the media personality could be bidding farewell.
‘Cat loves This Morning but has conceded she’ll be one of their shortest ever serving presenters,’ a source revealed.
The TV star was brought on board as a steady presence following the turbulence of Phillip Schofield’s exit, shortly followed by his longtime co-host Holly Willoughby.
She joined alongside co-host Ben Shephard in February (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
The insider continued to The Sun: ‘Cat was brought in alongside Ben to steady the ship and she’s done just that. Ratings have been tricky but the daily drama has finally ended.’
Although she has agreed to extend her stay by another year, close friends have claimed she is ‘growing tired’ of the gig and wants to look for ‘new challenges’ in 2026.
They added that despite her love and ‘loyalty’ for the show and crew she ‘has zero desire to follow in Holly’s footsteps and become a long-running This Morning legend.’
Holly presented the show alongside Phillip for 14 years and was a staple face on ITV daytime television.
In October, Cat opened up about how starting on This Morning disrupted her sleep pattern which led to her trying hypnotherapy.
‘I know it’s a bit kooky, but I’d tried everything else,’ she told Grazia magazine.
She continued: ‘When you do live TV, you go into fight or flight, where your body is pumping adrenaline. But then, how do I chill out afterwards? How do I sleep? Because you can’t just run on empty.’
The star was the subject of plenty of questions surrounding the high-profile nature of the job when she started.
She has previously said she would ‘quit’ if the hosting gig was causing issues (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Not only due to the backdrop of the Phillip drama but also after a man was sentenced to life in prison for planning a kidnap plot against Holly, 43.
But the host has been clear that if her mental health was being affected or she was no longer enjoying the job, she would walk away.
As she told The Times: ‘If it gets too much for me I’m going to quit. I don’t need to do it.
‘I could stop and be a mum for most of the year and then go and do the shows in America. There is no ulterior motive for me doing this.’
Cat and Ben’s pre-recorded Christmas Day episode garnered an impressive 1.1 million viewers, over double the average ratings they had in May just months after their debut.
Holly Willoughby was at This Morning for 14 years, but Cat isn’t interested in repeating that (Picture: WireImage)
An ITV spokesperson stayed firm in the face of concern over the plummeting views.
‘This Morning continues to reach over 4 million viewers a week and remains one of the most streamed programmes on ITVX in 2024,’ they said at the time.
Adding: ‘The award-winning show has never had a better connection with viewers; with 11 million followers across This Morning social media platforms and almost 130 million video views of This Morning content each month, reaching an average of 62 million unique social media accounts every month.’
ITV has declined to comment.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV1.
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