Cat Deeley

Just three minutes was all it took for Catherine Deely to move from the catwalk to the TV screen. Three minutes is the length of the videotape she made of herself and sent into MTV in the hope of becoming a video jock.

Roping in a boyfriend to help out with the shoot, Cat stuck the tape in a buff-coloured envelope, mailed it off to the head honcho at the satellite station, and thought no more of it. MTV bosses liked what they saw, which is why viewers are now able to watch VJ Cat on anything from The Hit List to the successful "Turn On, Tune In, Chill Out" weekend with All Saints.

Spotted by a modelling agency in her home town of Sutton Coldfield when she was 14, Cat's modelling assignments have taken her to Vienna, Tokyo, Athens and Hong Kong. "The best time I ever had was in Hong Kong. A load of us went out there with Richard Branson and he took really good care of us. We had a fantastic time -which isn't difficult when you're looked after so well," she says, cleverly spotting the connection between a ripping good time and a massive amount of money.

The shortening of her name came about when she went on the books of Storm model agency. "They already had a load of Kates and Katies and Catherines on their books," she explains in a soft Brummie accent. "And believe it or not, girls with the same first names often get sent to the wrong casting sessions." After moving to London, Cat took a job in a pub while she sorted out her modelling work. "It was actually a bit of an old man's pub, but when there was a match at Wembley it could get rowdy. Then the landlord would say I was his daughter to protect me from any unwanted advances."

Not that the tall, slim blonde can't look after herself. "I recently had a fight with my boyfriend and he ended up biting my lip, but I haven't punched him yet," she says ominously. "At my 18th birthday party some guy was messing about and he got on my nerves, so I completely lamped him. The other guests had to pull me off- he was too scared to come to school for weeks." Being one of only 16 girls at a grammar school with 250 blokes obviously toughened up the 21-year-old.

"I can also eat for England," she says with relish. "My idea of a great night out is a good meal in a restaurant. There is nothing I won't eat. I just got back from holiday in Edinburgh and I brought back a haggis, which my two flatmates and I soon demolished." With such a hearty appetite and such a lithe figure, it would be natural to assume that Cat is down the gym doing step-aerobics at six every morning. "Well, I did just join a gym," she says sheepishly, "but so far all I've used is the sunbed. I'm not really that body conscious."

So she wouldn't be attracted to the man with the perfect body if he was a meathead? "No way. I like tall, slim, dark men with a sense of humour. If Jim Morrison was alive, I could happily spend time with him. Or Leonardo DeCaprio. But they'd have to make me laugh." Unwanted attention is met with a swift rebuff. "My God, the men in Athens were appalling! They would literally stop what they were doing - driving, working, anything - just to gawp and stare at me. In the end I had to tell them to piss off, which is apparently not the done thing as they don't mind giving girl a slap."

Closer to home, the attention isn't quite as threatening. "I did recently get a phone call from some Aston Villa footballer asking me out on a date," she says, trying to remember the player's name. Stan Collymore? "That was it. He's got a stronger accent than I have! Anyway, I said no. I'm perfectly happy as I am."