On The Set of 'The Exes' with Cat Deeley
Before she washed up on our shores, Cat Deeley flaunted her funny bone on several British sketch comedy TV shows. But save for one (hilarious) appearance on House of Lies last season, American audience haven't had a proper platform for Cat's comedy chops.
Thankfully that seems to be changing as Deeley is getting proactive about shoehorning more acting roles into her already-hectic schedule, beginning with this week's episode of The Exes. I exclusively hit up the set to watch the Emmy nominee in action and find out what's next (a wedding show!) for the never-busier personality.
ETonline: What can you tell me about your character on The Exes?
Cat Deeley: I play Charlotte, who Stewart has fallen in love with via the internet. She lives in England and Charlotte has ... let's just say it's slipped her mind to tell him she's slightly orally challenged. It every other way she's like the perfect package; great personality, brains, all the rest of it. He's really connected with this woman and then he meets her for the first time and realizes she was quite probably a James Bond villain in a former life.
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ETonline: So you're sending up a very popular British stereotype?
Deeley: Exactly. I love taking myself not too seriously and being a bit silly with it -- give me a dodgy old wig and a fake pair of teeth and I'm in! I used to do sketches and things when I did the kid's show back in England, but you turn up and it's sort of like the first day on the job again. You got to go, "Am I going to be OK at this?" And everybody's been so brilliant and hilarious. It's a good team they've got going on here.
ETonline: You had a hilarious cameo on House of Lies last year, and now this. Are these opportunities a result of producers saying, "We'd love to have Cat come on our show" or are you actively pursuing more acting roles?
Deeley: It's kind of half of one and six dozen of the other, you know? It's my schedule; my schedule is an absolute nightmare. So it's more like when opportunities come up, let's have a chat about them and see if we can juggle the schedule. Then, it's also about what scares me because I like doing things that scare me every once in a while. I think that, as a human being, it's good to be taken out of your comfort zone.
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ETonline: Do you envision SYTYCD as the last hosting job you'll take on?
Deeley: : No, I see hosting as a thing that will continue. Of course there is always a shelf-life to each show that you do. Had you asked me 5 years ago if I thought this would still be going on in season 10 I would have said no. "No hope in hell!" You just never know. But I've also got a new show that's starting on TLC, a dream wedding show -- it's really cute, too. I've got all these different things that are going on which is good because if I'm busy I stay out of trouble.
ETonline: What can you say about the TLC wedding show?
Deeley: It's basically brides on a budget and I give them their dream wedding. I can't tell you any more than that, but it's kind of amazing, because when do you ever get to be fairy godmother? I'm very excited about it.
ETonline: You recently got married, what was that like?
Deeley: It was 60 people, so it was small, and there was an Italian feast in the garden. Fairy lights, an ice cream stand, dancing on tables 'til 4 a.m. in Rome ... it was really good.
ETonline: Lastly, you have all these irons in the fire -- what have you not tackled yet that's on the to do list?
Deeley: I'd like to write a book at some stage. I'd really like to do a book that is about weddings, actually. So taking everything that I've learned about mine and then using some of the people that I have in my contacts list so that nobody panics. I'd like more people to spend less time panicking and more time enjoying their weddings.
The Exes airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. on TV Land.