It's getting serious... Cat Deeley and comedian Patrick Kielty buy furniture together

It's getting serious... Cat Deeley and comedian Patrick Kielty buy furniture together

It looks like the PatCat is well and truly out of the bag now.

When a couple start picking out furniture together, it’s getting pretty serious.

And as TV presenter Cat Deeley and funnyman Patrick Kielty stroll arm in arm in the Los Angeles sunshine on a nest-building trip, one thing looks certain.

What began as a friendship 10 years ago when they ­hosted Fame Academy together has ­finally graduated into love.

The couple, who already ­affectionately refer to themselves as PatCat among friends, have been busy renovating Cat’s £1.7million mansion in Beverly Hills. And pals are even talking about wedding bells.

“They’re a beautiful couple and it is wonderful to see them settling down and building a life together,” a source told the Sunday Mirror.

“Patrick always said this is the year he wants to get ­married. And with him now living with Cat and spending most of his free time with her, we think he could pop the question literally any day now.

“They are definitely in it for the long term.”

Best mates: Snapped in a cafe in 2005

 

Passers-by who spotted Cat, 35, and Patrick, 41, browsing through furniture sections in West Hollywood last week with a shopping list of items thought they seemed made for each other.

They held hands for much of the trip and the Irish TV host and comedian took an active interest in the furniture they picked out.

One onlooker said: “They’re clearly very much in love. They looked like honeymooners building their nest.”

Cat began renovating her ­mansion early this year, a short time after she is reported to have started dating Patrick.

They enjoyed a getaway to one of Northern Ireland’s most romantic spots, Murlough Beach, last November and they also spent time with Patrick’s family in his home town of Dundrum in ­County Down.

In February, they went on holiday together to Cabo san Lucas on the west coast of Mexico. Shortly afterwards, Patrick was overheard admitting to a friend that Cat had become the “special lady” in his life.

But the couple, seen in the showbiz world as an unlikely pairing, have remained coy about a relationship that has taken a decade to blossom.

They hit it off when they were chosen to host BBC talent show Fame Academy in 2002. But both were in relationships at the time. Patrick then split from
long-term girlfriend Amanda Byram in 2003.           

Holding hands: Looks like Cat and Patrick are finally an item

 

And three years later Cat broke up with her husband of five years, businessman Mark Whelan.

She moved to Hollywood to host a show called So You Think You Can Dance, with Patrick commenting: “Cat’s turned her back on us. Good luck to her and her capitalism.”

She went on to have high profile but doomed relationships with actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Huston.

Last year she dated True Blood actor Michael McMillian, but split with him after just four months. She said of her love life: “I haven’t found my Prince Charming yet... and I’ve kissed a few frogs too. There are fit men everywhere, so I’m working my way through them, one at a time!

“Maybe I see myself with kids, given the right place and right moment, with the right person.”

Colleagues: Cat and Patrick withFame Academy contestant Marli Buck in 2002

 

Patrick hinted to friends last year that he wanted to get married in 2012, saying: “I think that might be my New Year’s resolution... to get married.”

Last week their romance ­became harder to deny when he took Cat to Belfast, where she spent time with his mother. And he’s so smitten that sources say he is now scouting for an agent and regular work in the US. Our source said: “Patrick’s committed to spending a lot more time in LA, but Cat has also shown a willingness to travel to his home town in Northern Ireland. It’s never easy having a celebrity relationship with conflicting schedules, but I ­really think that these two could make it work.”

And with summer approaching, Cat’s got the cream in more ways than one. Not only is she busy home building with her new man, she’s also set to host a new US celebrity dating show, The Choice.

But as our pictures seem to show... Cat has already made hers.