Cat Deeley in tears on This Morning as Ben Shephard shares 'special' birthday surprise

Cat Deeley was visibly moved on This Morning when co-host Ben Shephard surprised her with a birthday celebration.

The TV presenter couldn't hold back the tears after Ben presented a video of poet Pam Ayres reciting a bespoke poem written especially for Cat. The touching gesture left her overwhelmed with emotion.

She expressed to Ben how much the surprise meant to her, as Pam had been a significant figure in her childhood. In a moment of comfort, Ben squeezed her hand reassuringly as she dabbed at her eyes and continued with the programme.

At the start of today's show, Cat was greeted by Ben with a Colin the Caterpillar cake featuring her own face. "Look at this cake, it looks a bit odd," he commented, prompting a close-up of the personalised confectionery, reports the Mirror.

"If it's your birthday, you get the face! " exclaimed Cat, sharing her birthday morning excitement. "Everyone was up This Morning and excited as I got up at 5.30. There were cards made, there was one where we were all swimming underwater and they had made it and it said 'take a deep breath mum, you're getting old'. They thought it was the funniest thing on the planet."

Ben playfully probed about her age, and Cat proudly declared: "48!" Ben responded with a jest: "You don't look a day over 47! You look amazing. I think any opportunity to celebrate birthdays is very important.

"But also, we've got the amazing Pam Ayres on the show later. So what we asked Pam to do is write you a poem for your birthday and she has written a poem for Cat Deeley."

The programme switched to a touching moment as Pat shared her special poem in honour of Cat's birthday, which read: "We mustn't forget people's birthdays - the one day in all of the year for making somebody feel special, and those far away to feel dear.

"To get out of bed in the morning to see all the cards on the mat, from all of the folk who remembered, well that's nice - well you can ask Cat! No we mustn't forget people's birthdays, that is the wrong thing to do. So with speed uppermost, pop a card in the post, and then they might send one to you."

An emotional Cat responded, moved to tears by the gesture, saying: "That's so amazing," before adding, "We were talking about this this morning. She's part of my childhood! You wouldn't even see her and you'd know exactly who she was! ".