Cat Deeley was comforted by Ben Shephard as she struggled to hold back tears on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning (23 October).
The presenter, who rose to fame in the Nineties and Noughties for presenting SMTV Live alongside Ant and Dec, was given a caterpillar cake with her face on it by her co-host Shephard to celebrate her 48th birthday.
Deeley was left emotional after Shephard revealed that renowned British poet Pam Ayres had composed a personalised poem to celebrate the occasion. She explained that she had been woken up at 5:30am to be presented with birthday cards by her family.
“I got up at 5.30, there were cards made,” she said on the show.
“There was one where we were all swimming underwater and they’d made it. It said, ‘take a deep breath, mum, you’re getting old’. They thought it was the funniest thing on the planet.”
After confirming her age, Shephard joked “You don’t look a day over 47! You look amazing. I think any opportunity to celebrate birthdays is very important.” He then went on to reveal the surprise gift the show had organised for the host.
Ayres read the poem to Deeley later in the programme saying, “We mustn’t forget people’s birthdays - the one day in all of the year for making somebody feel special, and those far away to feel dear.”
She continued, “To get out of bed in the morning to see all the cards on the mat, from all of the folk who remembered, well that’s nice - well you can ask Cat!
“No we mustn’t forget people’s birthdays, that is the wrong thing to do. So with speed uppermost, pop a card in the post, and then they might send one to you.”
Deeley was overjoyed at the reading as she thanked the poet for the gift.
She said: “Thank you so, so much and I’m so glad that you read it for me as well because it’s [Ayres’ poems] so intrinsically part of my childhood.”
Meanwhile, the 77-year-old said: “I don’t like other people reading my poems. No, I don’t, I want to get them by the throat and say, ‘You’re doing it all wrong, give it back’.
“I don’t know, some people just don’t see how it’s supposed to bounce along. So I was glad to do it myself.”
The TV presenters took over from ex-hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby who left the programme in 2023 after 14 years. Schofield resigned after admitting to having a relationship with a teenage crew member who had started working at the show when he was aged 15. Schofield admitted the affair was “unwise, but not illegal”.
Meanwhile, Willoughby left shortly after and has remained away from the public eye following a thwarted kidnap, murder and rape plot.
