Fans Vote For Cat With Their Mice

The sexy host of Saturday morning show SM:TV beat off competition from Denise van Outen and Gail Porter to be named the most popular TV presenter on the web.

Despite her busy schedule, curvy Cat found time to visit the News of the World for a quick question and answer session and photoshoot this week - and proved she truly is Queen of the Net.

How do you feel at being named Britain's number one TV personality for browsers on the Internet?
Completely shocked! I was in Ireland filming a pilot for my new series and my mum rang me up. She said I was on the front cover of a magazine. It turned out to be The Net, and I was the browser's top television personality. I don't know who my dad had to kneecap or pay off to get that result! I was staggered!

You co-host SM:TV with Ant and Dec and have a chart show on MTV. What next?
I've just finished a pilot for new series called 'Deeley Does...'. It's my very own 30 minute interview show to be broadcast on ITV's early evening children's TV. The first show featured Westlife. I hope there'll be others.

Have you seen the finished product?
Yeah, I helped with the editing before it was broadcast on ITV last Monday. I hate watching myself on television. I pick out the slightest things I don't like about me. I'm very hard on myself. My mum is always telling me off for it.

What were Westlife like to work with. Did you fancy any of them?
(Laughs) They were angels! They were like little puppies falling over themselves all the time, and I was their big sister. They were a lovely bunch of boys but I prefer the more mature type. Put Ricky Martin and Tom Jones in the same room and it would be Tom Jones every time. It's the twinkle in his eye!

Are you dating at the moment?
I don't talk about that. That subject is off limits!

With the sexy FHM photos of you in a wet-look bikini, people thought you were deliberately moving away from the kiddy stuff. Is that true?
I don't feel like I'm talking to children on SM:TV, we just have a laugh. Of course you have to be careful not to swear and stuff, but we go pretty close to the wire. People of all ages watch the show. It's like a Disney film, it has lots of layers. When we're out on the town, we don't find children coming up to shake our hand, it's more likely to be a group of lads.

You have a chart show on MTV and have interviewed hundreds of pop and rock stars. Any favourites?
Mariah Carey was good fun, and Puff Daddy and Robbie. I know they are huge stars but I treat them like normal people, I'm friendly and chatty with them and they seem to like that. Once I heard Whitney Houston out in the corridor during a show shouting 'I want to be interviewed by Cat. Where's Cat?' I couldn't believe it.

You must have a love of music to do the MTV stuff. Who do you listen do when you get home and how do you wind down?
I love the Stereophonics, Cerys Matthews, a bit of Tom Jones. I like to wind down with friends, have a beer, go to the cinema, that kind of thing. It's a myth that I go out to glamorous parties every night. I still keep in touch with a lot of my old school friends actually. They keep your feet on the ground. I've also hired a personal trainer. I do kick boxing with her twice a week and she gives me a body massage, but I've been so busy recently that I've had to keep putting her off.

What's store for Cat in 2000?
I'm not sure. A lot of my mates are leaving university now and are wondering what they are doing with their lives. I feel the same - I love my work, but it's time to take stock and think about what I really want to do next. It will definitely be in television though. It's the best job in the world! I am very lucky. But I am just an ordinary girl, with ordinary parents and went to an ordinary school with 2,000 other kids. Anybody could do what I do if they put their mind to it. I truly believe that.

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