Cat Deeley and her family fled the US after a terrifying incident on a day out.
The television beauty, 47, will be back on screens regularly after landing the job as This Morning host, alongside Ben Shephard. But things might have turned out differently if that fateful day in a US mall had never happened.
Back in 2019, Cat’s TV star husband Patrick Kielty, 53, and their young son Milo were caught up in a gun scare. They had been eating at a Shake Shack in LA when sirens rang out.
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A year later, the former SMTV Live host spoke of the ordeal, explaining everyone was told to hide behind a counter or in the toilets. “People were screaming and crying,” she said.
(Image: ITV)
She explained: “Then, as they were all hiding, the FBI turned up with guns. Paddy kept Milo calm – he didn’t really know what was going on.
“As I was driving, I began to see helicopters, news vans, firemen and armed police response squads. It makes me go funny now. It was terrifying.”
She explained that comedian Paddy had been more affected by it as their son, who was three at the time, didn’t really understand. Cat branded America’s lax gun laws as “crazy”.
According to the Sun, the gun scare was caused by a former Amazon employee, who was angry over poor pay and working conditions. He reportedly set fire to some books in a shop and pointed a gun at employees before running off.
The man, Nicholas Oates, was arrested the next day and eventually sentenced to seven years and four months in a state prison. He pleaded no contest to arson and assault with a firearm.
However he is now out of prison. He reportedly did not comment on the incident, but moaned: “Jeff Bezos and Amazon do whatever they want regardless of how anyone feels about it.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Meanwhile, LA Police Chief Michael Moore said the incident “created terror in the minds of hundreds of shoppers”. So much so, it seems, that Cat and her family decided to quit the US.
They left LA and their mansion, complete with a gym and swimming pool, to return to the UK. She will now front This Morning with ex Good Morning Britain star Ben Shephard.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
