Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of The Late Late Show on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include the BBC's Patrick Kielty Almost Live and Channel 4's Last Chance Lottery. He has also presented ITV's Love Island and This Morning.
Kielty has appeared in several award-winning documentaries and films, including the BAFTA nominated My Dad, The Peace Deal and Me, Patrick Kielty: 100 Years of Union and Ballywalter.
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Early life
Kielty was born and grew up in the village of Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland. He is one of three sons of the businessman John "Jack" Kielty, who was shot dead on 25 January 1988 by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name used by loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). John Kielty was to have been a key witness in 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. Three men, William Bell, David Curlett and Delbert Watson, were sentenced to life for the murder of Kielty but were released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Craig was himself killed by the UDA in October 1988.
Kielty was a talented Gaelic footballer 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.
Career
Kielty began performing regularly while a pupil at St Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick. He was persuaded to participate by a Games master who spotted his impersonations of local politicians, celebrities, and sportsmen. His professional career started while he was still a psychology student at Queen's University Belfast. In 1991, along with his friend and fellow student Jackie Hamilton (later a BBC and independent producer), the pair visited Dublin's new stand up club The Gasworks run by performer/producer Billy Magra/McGrath. UK acts making their Irish debuts included Jo Brand, Lee Evans, Jack Dee, Stewart Lee, Mark Lamarr, Eddie Izzard and many more plus The Gasworks gave local acts like Sean Hughes, Jon Kenny/Pat Shortt and Ardal O'Hanlon their first headline shows in Dublin. After a successful opening spot (mainly doing impressions), Billy advised Kielty and Jackie to open their own comedy club in Belfast and The Empire on Botanic Avenue in Belfast was born. The following year Kielty was a finalist in a National Comedy Search organised by Billy for the Republic of Ireland's most-watched TV programme The Late Late Show. Another finalist, also making his TV debut, was another future star, Dylan Moran. Later the experience led to a hugely successful BBC NI series The Empire Laughs Back - also produced by Jackie. One routine performed at local gigs involved donning a balaclava and making spoof paramilitary pronouncements.
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.
Radio
In January 2015, US Country star Garth Brooks gave his first UK interview to Kielty for a BBC Radio 2 special from Boston, Massachusetts. On 13 September 2019, Kielty presented The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4. In August 2020, Kielty co-presented Five Live Breakfast with Rachel Burden on BBC Radio 5 Live, sitting in for Nicky Campbell.
Since August 2022, Kielty has presented a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Stand-up
In 2022, he embarked on his first stand-up tour for seven years. The dad-of-two joked on motoring podcast Fuelling Around that his Borderline show gave him the perfect opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
Acting
Kielty performed in the play A Night in November in August 2007 in the Grand Opera House, Belfast, and also in productions in London and in 2008 in The Olympia Theatre in Dublin. A documentary about the production of the play starring Kielty was released in 2008.
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.
In 2026, he cameoed as himself on The Late Late Show on Netflix's How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.
Personal life
Kielty identifies as Irish and Northern Irish, stating also that "Northern Ireland is part of the UK so that means there's a part of me that's British."
Between 1998 and 2003, Kielty was in a high-profile relationship with Irish presenter and model Amanda Byram.
Kielty married English television presenter Cat Deeley (his former Fame Academy co-host) in a private ceremony in Rome on 29 September 2012. Their first son was born in January 2016, and a second in June 2018. On 29 July 2025, the couple announced that they had separated.
Kielty is a lifelong fan of Manchester United.
Charity
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 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.