Last updated: 19 October 2026. If you searched for “James Patrick Kielty”, you’re looking for Patrick Kielty. He is the Northern Irish comedian and broadcaster who has hosted RTÉ’s The Late Late Show since 2023, and he is married to TV presenter Cat Deeley. Below is a short, fact-checked profile. We list what has been publicly confirmed and say plainly where the claims circulating online fall apart.
Who is James Patrick Kielty?
Patrick Kielty is a stand-up comedian, TV and radio presenter and documentary maker from County Down. He started in Belfast comedy clubs in the early 1990s. He then became a familiar face on BBC and ITV entertainment shows, and in 2023 he took over Ireland’s longest-running chat show.
A note on the name. He has always worked as “Patrick Kielty”, and nearly every reliable source (BBC, RTÉ, Chortle) uses that name. “James Patrick Kielty” shows up mostly on database and aggregator pages. We haven’t found a primary source that confirms a different legal first name, so we treat it as a variant of the same person and don’t present it as fact.
Patrick Kielty: key facts at a glance
| Detail | What’s publicly known |
|---|---|
| Professional name | Patrick Kielty |
| Born | 31 January 1971 (widely reported) |
| From | Downpatrick area, County Down, Northern Ireland; grew up in Dundrum |
| Education | St Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick; Queen’s University Belfast |
| Occupation | Comedian, TV and radio presenter, documentary maker |
| Spouse | Cat Deeley (married 2012) |
| Children | Two sons |
| Current role | Host of RTÉ’s The Late Late Show (since September 2023) |
Early life and background
Kielty grew up in Dundrum, a small seaside village near Downpatrick in County Down. He went to St Patrick’s Grammar School in Downpatrick. As a teenager he was a serious Gaelic footballer and played minor football for Down in the late 1980s.
The defining event of his youth was the death of his father. Jack Kielty, a local builder and businessman, was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his office in Dundrum in January 1988. Patrick was 16. The killing happened at the height of the Troubles, and the family has said Jack was targeted in connection with a court case he was due to give evidence in.
Kielty rarely spoke about it in public for years. That changed in 2018, when he presented the BBC documentary Patrick Kielty: Dear Dad, a personal letter to his father that looked at the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Critics widely praised it, and it changed how many viewers saw him. He was no longer just a light-entertainment host. He was someone with a serious voice on Northern Ireland, peace and reconciliation.
After school he studied psychology at Queen’s University Belfast. University is also where his comedy career began.
Career highlights: from Belfast stand-up to The Late Late Show
Stand-up beginnings
While still a student, Kielty compered at Belfast’s Empire Laughs Back comedy night. Hosting a room every week is a hard apprenticeship. You learn to work a crowd, deal with hecklers and keep a show moving, and those are the skills a live chat-show host needs decades later. He soon moved into regional TV with BBC Northern Ireland, including the late-night show PK Tonight in the mid-1990s.
UK television breakthrough
His show Patrick Kielty Almost Live moved from BBC Northern Ireland to the ITV network and gave him a UK-wide audience. The real breakthrough came in 2002, when he co-presented BBC One’s Fame Academy with Cat Deeley. It drew big Saturday-night audiences and led to the Comic Relief Does Fame Academy spin-offs.
Next came ITV’s Celebrity Love Island (2005–2006), co-hosted with Fearne Cotton, along with game shows, guest-presenting slots and appearances on panel shows. He kept touring as a stand-up the whole time, which is why comedy listings such as Chortle still describe him first as a comic.
Radio and documentaries
Kielty has worked steadily on radio, including weekend shows on BBC Radio 5 Live. From around 2018, documentaries and current-affairs pieces about Northern Ireland, Brexit and the border became a bigger part of his work. Dear Dad is the best known.
Taking over The Late Late Show
In May 2023 RTÉ confirmed Kielty as the new host of The Late Late Show, succeeding Ryan Tubridy. Only Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and Tubridy had hosted the show before him. His first episode went out in September 2023. He took over at a hard time. RTÉ was in the middle of a funding and governance scandal, and he faced early criticism over ratings and over the decision to present from Dublin while his family stayed in London.
Career timeline
| Period | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Early 1990s | Empire Laughs Back, Belfast | Stand-up compère |
| Mid-1990s | PK Tonight (BBC NI) | Presenter |
| Late 1990s | Patrick Kielty Almost Live (BBC NI/ITV) | Presenter |
| 2002–2003 | Fame Academy (BBC One) | Co-presenter with Cat Deeley |
| 2005–2006 | Celebrity Love Island (ITV) | Co-presenter with Fearne Cotton |
| 2018 | Patrick Kielty: Dear Dad (BBC) | Writer and presenter |
| 2023–present | The Late Late Show (RTÉ) | Host |
Personal and family life
Is Patrick Kielty married?
Yes. Kielty is married to Cat Deeley, the Birmingham-born presenter best known for SM:TV Live, So You Think You Can Dance and, more recently, ITV’s This Morning. They first worked together on Fame Academy in the early 2000s and became a couple years later. They married in a small, private ceremony in Rome in late September 2012. Sources give slightly different dates, so treat any exact date you see as “reported”.
Some aggregator sites claim he had a “first wife” or remarried in 2023. We found no credible reporting for either claim. As far as reputable sources show, Deeley is his only wife.
Children
The couple have two sons, born in 2015 and 2016. Their first names, Milo and James, have been reported in the press, and that may explain some “James Kielty” searches. Both parents keep the boys largely out of public view, and we’ve done the same here.
Where does the family live?
The family spent several years in Los Angeles while Deeley hosted So You Think You Can Dance. They moved back to London around 2020–2021, partly so the boys could grow up nearer their grandparents. Since taking the Late Late Show job, Kielty has travelled to Dublin for the show. He has been open in interviews about how a two-city arrangement works, and that will sound familiar to any family where both partners work in TV.
If you like this kind of profile, see our pieces on Tara McKillop, Lee Mack’s wife and Davina McCall’s children and family life.
Latest projects: what is Patrick Kielty doing now?
As of October 2026, Kielty’s main job is still hosting The Late Late Show on Friday nights on RTÉ One. The show has settled after a rocky first season. Its strongest moments have tended to be long-form, serious interviews where his documentary experience shows, more than the light-entertainment segments.
He still does occasional stand-up and one-off TV and radio work in the UK. Presenting contracts and schedules change quickly, though. Before relying on any “next project” claim, check RTÉ’s press office or the BBC’s media centre. We’ll update this section when anything new is confirmed.
Related profiles in our Health & Beauty and celebrity coverage
Kielty fits a pattern we see across our profile coverage. He’s a presenter whose public image changed once he started talking honestly about family and loss. For similar stories, read our profiles of Helen Skelton and Janette Manrara’s family life.
Sources and how we checked them
- RTÉ announcements and coverage of The Late Late Show host appointment (2023)
- BBC coverage of Patrick Kielty: Dear Dad (2018) and of Jack Kielty’s killing
- Chortle comedian profile for his stand-up career
- Hello! Magazine and mainstream UK press for family details shared by Cat Deeley
We did not use claims that appeared only on aggregator or content-farm pages.
FAQs
Is James Patrick Kielty the same person as Patrick Kielty?
Yes. Searches for James Patrick Kielty are looking for Patrick Kielty, the Northern Irish comedian and host of The Late Late Show. He has always worked as Patrick Kielty, and we haven’t found a primary source confirming a different legal first name.
What is Patrick Kielty famous for?
He is known for stand-up comedy, for co-presenting BBC One’s Fame Academy with Cat Deeley, for ITV’s Celebrity Love Island, for his 2018 BBC documentary Dear Dad, and since 2023 for hosting RTÉ’s The Late Late Show.
Where is Patrick Kielty from?
He is from the Downpatrick area of County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Dundrum. He went to St Patrick’s Grammar School and then Queen’s University Belfast.
Is Patrick Kielty married?
Yes. He married TV presenter Cat Deeley in a private ceremony in Rome in September 2012. They have two sons, born in 2015 and 2016. Claims of an earlier or later marriage have no credible sourcing.
What happened to Patrick Kielty’s father?
His father, Jack Kielty, a builder and businessman, was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his office in Dundrum in January 1988, when Patrick was 16. Patrick looked back on it in the 2018 BBC documentary Dear Dad.
What is Patrick Kielty doing now?
As of October 2026 he hosts The Late Late Show on RTÉ One, a job he started in September 2023 after Ryan Tubridy left. He also does occasional stand-up and UK broadcasting work.
