Cat Deeley is snapped for the first time since her shock split from husband Patrick Kielty... with a male friend in Spain

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

Cat Deeley has been spotted for the first time since her shock split from husband Patrick Kielty was announced, enjoying dinner with a male friend in Spain.
In pictures obtained exclusively by The Daily Mail, the This Morning host, 48, was snapped out at a restaurant in Sitges, frequently visited by celebrities, minus her wedding ring.
According to fellow diners at the picturesque eatery called Chiringuito de Garraf, the presenter appeared 'downcast' while wearing a halter neck dress and golden sandals, as she tucked into her meal, believed to be lobster.
The mystery man joining her for dinner was hairdresser pal Ben Skervin, who documented his trip to Spain on his Instagram page which Cat commented on, writing: 'I love you'.
The Londoner has previously featured on snaps alongside Cat on social media and describes his himself as a 'freelance celebrity and fashion hairdresser' and according to his personal website, previously worked with the Spice Girls, Keira Knightly, Madonna, Mariah Carey and Hugh Jackman, photographers including Karl Lagerfeld and top fashion magazines American Vogue and Vanity Fair among others.
The restaurant snaps were taken on August 2, just days after Cat and Patrick announced their separation after 12 years of marriage.
A fellow diner told The Daily Mail: 'Cat looked a bid down and a touch crestfallen, not her usual spritely self, which is understandable given her marriage split.
'Her accent was recognisable to a number of Brits at the restaurant, which is popular with celebrities, and she had interacted with a few British kids also dining there.
'She clearly needed to be around her nearest and dearest during such a difficult time.'
The Daily Mail approached Cat's reps for comment.
Cat's estranged husband Patrick, 54, was pictured last week on a trip to the shops near the former couple's home in London buying a bottle of red wine. It was the first time he had been pictured since their split was confirmed on July 29.
The Irishman, who shares two sons with Cat - Milo, seven, and James, five - also cut a sombre figure amid news of his separation.
The pair revealed days previously they had taken the decision to end their 12 year marriage, stressing that 'no other party' was involved.
Their split statement read: '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.'
Confirmation of their separation came five months after Cat's no-show at the funeral of Patrick's beloved late mother Mary which, as The Daily Mail revealed last week, left members of his close-knit family 'seething.'
Cat's estranged husband Patrick, 54, was pictured last week on a trip to the shops near the former couple's home in London buying a bottle of red wine. It was the first time he had been pictured since their split was confirmed on July 29
Patrick was pictured looking bereft as he carried Mary's coffin through his home village, where he was joined by close family and friends at the Church of the Sacred Heart.
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.'
But her surprise absence shocked members of Patrick's family.
A relative told The Daily Mail: 'Whatever rockiness was going on in the marriage, something as a momentous as his mother's funeral, you would make up even temporarily and just put your 'best face' on as we say in Northern Ireland.
'Cat obviously knew how close Patrick was to Mary and she should have come to be by his side, a hand on his shoulder as he buried his mother. The fact that she stayed in London and presented This Morning on the day, it's not been forgotten.'
The source added: 'In a very tight knit community in Northern Ireland, people always turn out. It's the done thing. His family remain very upset by this.
'They still can't believe it. It was the point when we all realised that that marriage had ended.'
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 US show So You Can Dance for a celebratory brunch.
Cat said: 'It was my birthday and he'd rung me, he was at a pub in Ireland and he'd rung me from the pub.
'Bear in mind it was probably about 2 o'clock in the morning because they'd had a lock-in.'
When Cat told him she was having a birthday brunch at Beverly Hills Hotel with a few friends, she said: 'He said, 'I'll see you there!' I was like, there's no way!
'He went home, set his alarm for five, got up, went to the airport, flew from Belfast to London, then jumped on the first plane from London to LA, got in a cab, told the cabbie on his way from the airport what he was doing, and the driver was literally like 'do you want me to wait for you?!'
'He walked in, dropped his bags at the concierge, walked in and came and sat down for lunch! It knocked my socks off a little bit!'
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.
The former couple lived in California for a decade before moving back to the UK due to Cat's keenness to be closer to her family.
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 US show So You Can Dance for a celebratory brunch
Pictured: Cat and Ben Skervin. The Londoner has previously featured on snaps alongside Cat on social media
Explaining the location switch, Patrick said: 'I think with big decisions, like that, you kind of have to float stuff and see how that's gonna go.
'What was weird about it was, it was Cat who wanted to return, it was more her decision because I think being a young mum and not having the family around and not having that network of cousins and brothers and all of that.
'I think for me, somewhere like London is not home, London's never really going to be home for me, in my head I still live in a little village in County Down, even though I haven't lived there full time for 30 years.
'My family was always a flight away anyway so that idea of it being a longer flight from LA wasn't as much of a problem for me as someone who had to get on a flight to see them anyway.
'I also think because Cat was the one with the successful career out there, she was the one that chose that she wanted to leave that, at that right time, that's a decision that she made and only she can make, and it's your job to support that decision.'
Patrick started presenting The Late Late Show, which is filmed in Dublin on a Friday, from 2023.
The following year, Cat landed her job on This Morning alongside Ben Shephard.