Patrick Kielty

Patrick Kielty
Born 31 January 1971
Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland
Occupation Comedian,[1] Presenter
Known for Patrick Kielty Almost Live
Live at the Apollo
This Morning Summer
Spouse(s) Cat Deeley (m. 2012)

Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality from Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Background

Kielty was the youngest of three sons born to the businessman John "Jack" Kielty, who was shot dead by an Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) volunteer on 25 January 1988.[2][3] The UFF was a cover name used by loyalist group the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). John Kielty was to have been a key witness in British Central Television's defence of a libel action brought by Jim Craig, who was suing the television company over a broadcast of The Cook Report which connected him to racketeering, and is said to have ordered John Kielty's murder.[4]

Career

St Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick, holds an annual holiday concert. Kielty, while a student there, featured regularly, doing impersonations of local politicians, celebrities, and sportsmen. His career started while he was still a psychology student at Queen's University of Belfast. He became well known locally for his stand-up comedy routines at The Empire pub comedy nights, called "The Empire Laughs Back". One such routine involved donning a balaclava and making spoof paramilitary pronouncements.[5] In the early 1990s, Kielty won the Guinness Entertainer of the Year in INF Warrenpoint, an event fronted by Sean Mallon.

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 and Kielty graduated to presenting programmes such as Last Chance Lottery and Patrick Kielty Almost Live, broadcast throughout the UK. He also presented a series of After The Break. He did an impersonation of Martin McGuinness (who bears a slight resemblance to Art Garfunkel) singing the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Bridge over Troubled Water".

He continues to appear on national television, but no one really knows why, as he has left much of his political comedy background behind, tending to favour bland 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. 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 of the American version of Deal or No Deal for ABC in early 2004.[6] 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 brand new UK tour. A DVD, filmed at Belfast's Grand Opera House, was later released. In 2007, he began work on the UK production of A Night in November, written by Northern Irish dramatist Marie Jones (Stones in His Pockets).

In 2007 he also guested on the BBC's third series of Live at the Apollo. He sat in for Alan Carr on his BBC Radio 2 show when Alan was on holidays. He has also sat in for Steve Wright and Simon Mayo on the station. 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. In 2010, he took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

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.[7] He played for the rest of world side in series 4 of Soccer Aid, substituting at half time for Edwin van der Sar. In 2012, he co-presented This Morning, alongside Kate Thornton for one episode and Emma Willis for three episodes. In 2014 and 2015, Patrick guest hosted a few episodes of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.

Personal life

Kielty married television presenter Cat Deeley in a Roman Catholic ceremony at St Isidore's College Chapel, Rome, on 30 September 2012.[8]

Controversies

In March 2007, when presenting a live episode of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, Kielty referred to BBC Radio 1 disc jockey contestant Colin Murray as a "big gayer".[9] Three complaints were made to Ofcom and the BBC as the comments were perceived by some as homophobic and offensive. The BBC responded saying that the line was unscripted and "spur of the moment" but that Kielty had been reminded "to be more careful during the remaining live shows". He would later apologise on Have I Got News for You.

In September 2007, Kielty apologised after joking about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann during filming of a TV show. The comments prompted several outraged audience members to leave the Olympia Theatre, whilst he was still performing.[10]

On 20 January 2010, while a guest on The One Show, Kielty revealed Christine Bleakley's mobile number to the camera, to prove that he had her number to celebrate their double birthday celebrations. Within five minutes of Kielty's mistake, Bleakley was bombarded with calls and text messages. She has since changed her number.[11]

Select filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Patrick Kielty". Comedy Central. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Murray, Raymond. The SAS in Ireland. Mercier Press, 1990. p. 397
  3. ↑ Sutton Index of Deaths: 25 January 1988, CAIN
  4. ↑ Wood, Ian S. Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. p. 134
  5. ↑ The Scotsman
  6. ↑ Guardian
  7. ↑ Sweney, Mark (14 June 2010). "Channel 4 lines up topical standup show hosted by Patrick Kielty". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Patrick Kielty and Cat Deeley in Rome wedding from BBC, retrieved 9 August 2013
  9. ↑ RTE
  10. ↑ BBC News – Northern Ireland
  11. ↑ "Bad call, Patrick! TV host Kielty accidentally gives out Christine Bleakley's number during an appearance on The One Show". Daily Mail. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.

External links