Patrick Kielty

 ( 1971 Births ) 

Kielty was a talented as a teenager and was a member of the Down GAA minor football team for three years, between 1987 and 1989. He was the substitute goalkeeper for the team when they won the 1987 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

In 1993, Kielty presented the show SUS on UTV. He later became the warm-up act for a BBC Northern Ireland programme, Anderson on the Box, presented by local personality Gerry Anderson. When this show was axed, he presented its replacement, PK Tonight. Although this ran for only a year and was only shown in Northern Ireland, it did attract the attention of London-based broadcasters, winning him the "Best Newcomer" Award at the 1996 Royal Television Society Awards. In 1997, he set up the Belfast-based TV production company Green Inc with TV director Stephen Stewart, making shows such as The Afternoon Show, Patrick Kielty Almost Live, and Ask Rhod Gilbert. It was reported in 2010 that Kielty had sold his share in the company. Kielty graduated to presenting programmes such as Last Chance Lottery and Patrick Kielty Almost Live, broadcast throughout the UK. Following his liver transplant, former football star George Best later gave his first TV interview to Kielty on the same show.

From 2001 to 2003, Kielty hosted 14 episodes of the comedy game show Stupid Punts. He also presented a series of After The Break. He did an impersonation of Martin McGuinness (who bore some superficial visual resemblance to Art Garfunkel) singing the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Bridge over Troubled Water". Kielty continued to appear on national television, mostly light-entertainment shows such as the BBC's Fame Academy, Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and Love Island for ITV in both 2005 and 2006. On 21 June 2003 Kielty hosted the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics in Croke Park, Dublin, to a reported global audience of 800 million viewers. Other participants included Nelson Mandela, Mohammed Ali, and U2. In 2006, he hosted a segment on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday LIVE alongside Kate Thornton. He hosted the original pilot series of the American version of Deal or No Deal for ABC in early 2004. However, ABC decided against airing the series, which ended up on NBC, with Canadian comedian Howie Mandel as host.

In 2006, Kielty returned to the stand-up scene with a new UK tour. A DVD, filmed at Belfast's Grand Opera House, was later released. In 2007, he began work at the Trafalgar Theatre in London's West End on the UK production of A Night in November, written by Northern Irish dramatist Marie Jones ( Stones in His Pockets). He debuted in the play at the Grand Opera House in Belfast.

In 2007, he also guested on the BBC's third series of Live at the Apollo; during this show he controversially referred to members of the Irish travelling community in derogatory terms. On 18 May 2007, Kielty was invited to conduct a joint in-depth TV interview at 10 Downing Street in London with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to discuss the Northern Ireland peace process. He hosted the Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 which started on 24 July 2010 and it ran for 10 weeks. Kielty presented Sport Relief in 2010 and 2012 alongside Fearne Cotton.

Kielty was the host of the first series of Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week, which began in June 2010 and ran for six weeks.

In 2012, he co-presented This Morning, alongside Kate Thornton for one episode and Emma Willis for three episodes. In 2014 and 2015, Kielty guest hosted a few episodes of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.

In 2016 Kielty returned to BBC Northern Ireland to present programmes, including the comedy panel game show Bad Language alongside Susan Calman and Paul Sinha. He then hosted television documentary Patrick Kielty's Mulholland Drive which focused on the life of William Mullholland and the California Water Wars. Kielty also reflected on his relatives' work in the Northern Irish water industry. In March 2016 he began hosting a chat show for BBC NI called Delete, Delete, Delete looking at celebrities' internet history.

In 2016, he presented Debatable, a daily quiz show for BBC Two.

In 2018, Kielty presented a documentary, My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me for BBC Two. The programme, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, explored the state of Northern Ireland two decades on from the Agreement. Kielty discussed the killing of his father and the effect it had on him, as well as his decision to vote Yes to the Agreement in a referendum, even though it would result in the release from gaol of his father's killers. He also interviewed former paramilitary activists from both sides of the struggle, DUP leader Arlene Foster, school students at an integrated (non-denominational) school and Richard Moore, founder of Children in Crossfire who was blinded as a small boy by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier, whom he later befriended. The documentary saw Kielty named UK documentary host of the year at the 2018 Grierson Awards.

In 2021, Kielty took part in the RTÉ series All the Walks of Life, where he talked about his childhood and the values he holds. He appeared in the film Patrick Kielty: One Hundred Years of Union, for which he won a Royal Television Society award for best presenter.

After much speculation, on 20 May 2023, Kielty was confirmed as the new host of RTÉ's The Late Late Show, taking over from Ryan Tubridy and becoming the show's fourth permanent presenter.

Since August 2022, Kielty has presented a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live.

In 2023, he appeared in the film Ballywalter, playing Shane, a stand-up comic. He also appeared as himself in episode one of the BBC One comedy Queen of Oz. Kielty is seen and heard on his radio programme questioning the outrageous antics of spoiled spare to the British crown, Queen Georgiana, played by Catherine Tate.

Kielty married English television presenter Cat Deeley (his former Fame Academy co-host) in a private ceremony in Rome on Saturday 29 September 2012. Patrick Kielty and Cat Deeley in Rome wedding from BBC, retrieved 9 August 2013. Their first son was born in January 2016, and a second in June 2018. Hosting the BBC Radio 5 Live afternoon show on 28 October 2020 (sitting in for Nihal Arthanayake) he talked of his relationship with Deeley saying, "first find a woman out of your league and then convince her she isn't". Prior to his relationship with Deeley, Kielty was in a high-profile relationship with Irish presenter and model Amanda Byram for five years, separating in 2003.

Kielty is a lifelong fan of Manchester United.

Kielty has participated in every incarnation of Soccer Aid until 2016. He plays for the 'Rest of The World' team as a goalkeeper and is typically substituted onto the field at the beginning of the second half.

After co-presenting Sport Relief on two occasions in 2010 and 2012, Kielty's participation in 2015's Comic Relief telethon was confirmed when British boy band One Direction tweeted a short clip announcing who would be playing them in a 'No Direction' tribute for Red Nose Day. Kielty, who impersonated Niall Horan, directed the skit in which comedians Jack Dee played Louis Tomlinson, Nick Helm became Zayn Malik, Vic Reeves took on Harry Styles and Johnny Vegas transformed into Liam Payne.

• Official website
• Patrick Kielty at BBC Radio 5 Live