Deeley: I'm 'realer' than most US TV hosts

Cat Deeley has declared TV hosts in the US “a little Stepford” and said British audiences are afraid of showing ambition and drive.

Deeley, 33, who has carved out a career in the US since rising to fame on Saturday morning children’s show 'SM:tv with Ant and Dec', said she was “realer” than American hosts.

The former model has not had a regular TV series in the UK since she completed 'Stars In Their Eyes' in 2006 but is about to bring 'So You Think You Can Dance', the Simon Fuller hit she has presented in the US, to the BBC.

Deeley told the Radio Times: “It’s a lot easier to get Americans to scream and shout and dance and clap. In Britain, it’s almost as if we’re ashamed of having ambition and drive.”

The presenter, who grew up in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, said: “When I watch shows in America, I feel that some of the hosts are a little ’Stepford’ – in the nicest possible way.

“It feels as if they’re more worried if the light is in the right place and they’re standing right than they are about communicating with an audience.

“The fundamental part of my job is to communicate with an audience in a very real way. I think I’m maybe a bit ’realer’ than typical American hosts.”

Deeley said of working in the US: “As much as you hear that you have to be size zero, you have to be Botoxed and have your lips and boobs done, no-one has ever said to me ’Fix your nose’ or ’Get big boobs’.

“I’m comfortable in my own skin and I think that helps enormously.”

Deeley said of her life in LA: “I can host a show, then just hours later be riding my horse, and no one bothers me because Tom Cruise and Will Smith live down the road and are much more interesting.

“When I land in LA, it feels like LA, but when I land in London, and you see the Thames and St Paul’s on the plane’s final approach, it feels like home.”