Cat Deeley returns to British TV screens to host the second series of So You Think You Can Dance - a role she also fulfils in America.

Originally known as the host of SMTV: Live, double-BAFTA award-winning Cat has since carved out an enviable transatlantic career. She became Jay Leno's first regular entertainment correspondent on The Tonight Show, subsequently performing the same role for Good Morning America.

During her time presenting shows for British television, Cat interviewed Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Prince, Marilyn Manson, Elton John, Joss Stone, Tom Jones and 50 Cent.

In 2010, she hosted the TV coverage of the Help for Heroes concert which featured Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow in their first performance together for 15 years.

Just weeks after returning to the UK to host BBC One's talent show So You Think You Can Dance?, Cat Deeley can't believe that this weekend marks the series final.

"I haven't had time to see everyone... I haven't seen Ant and Dec yet," says Deeley, 33, who hails from Birmingham, but has spent the last couple of years working in the US.

The presenter's Brummy tones are still audible - albeit with a little American intonation thrown in - but it is not only Deeley's accent which bears the mark of her transatlantic lifestyle.

"I've been doing the show here, then flying to Miami for auditions (for the US version of the show), then back, then to New York for auditions, then back to the UK again."

Despite the jetlag, the presenter says she is "having a ball" being back on her home turf.

£100,000 prize

"There's always a bit of trepidation about how the show is being received but it's been doing really good business," she says.

Each week, the dancers who have made it through the audition process are asked to tackle different styles of dance, such as hip hop, jazz, lyrical and contemporary, with a new routine.

Viewers vote for their favourite performer at the end of each show and the judges - Nigel Lythgoe, Arlene Phillips, Louise Redknapp and Sisco Gomez - eliminate a male and a female contestant.

The results shows have consistently drawn about five million viewers each week.

The winner, to be announced on Saturday, will receive £100,000, plus the chance to perform on the US version of the programme.

Deeley has been hosting So You Think You Can Dance? in the US since its second series - and is now recording the seventh season.

She is keen to point out it is a serious talent show, with few laughs during the auditions process.

"They have to have that real core talent... we push them to the very limit. You can't fake it. You can't help but be in awe of the dancers.

"I've definitely learnt a great appreciation (of dance)."

A contemporary routine during last week's UK semi-final featured a couple in the middle of a huge row.

Independence day

"At some point in all our lives we can identify with the moment," says Deeley. "I have screamed with people across the table, I have thrown books at people!"

Deeley appears to have a genuine bond with the show's contestants and admits she invests time to build relationships.

"I see the dancers an awful lot. In the US, you don't interact much outside because of fairness, but after the show, we hang out - they come round my house for the Fourth of July (American Independence Day) barbecue

"It's not mean TV. We don't want them to throw up, we're not getting them drunk - it's a challenge but it's a very good one."

Deeley is looking forward to Saturday's final, as she expects the the audience to "go absolutely wild".

"I can't wait for the final, they're going to blow the roof off the place."

So will Deeley return to judge a second UK series?

"We're waiting to see if it's going to be re-commissioned. I think they'll see how the final goes. It depends on when it is - there's a little thing called the Atlantic in the middle of us! It would be lovely to be asked to do it again."

Whatever happens, the US attitude to life has obviously rubbed off on Deeley as she sums up what the show is about.

"It's very much 'dream big'. You can be anything you want to be if you have talent, passion and are prepared to give it 110%."

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Cat Deeley was born in Birmingham in October 1976. She made her name as a children's TV presenter on SM:TV Live alongside Ant and Dec, before relocating to the States where she is now a primetime television presenter and an entertainment correspondent for ABC News.

Deeley lives alone in Los Angeles but has briefly returned to the UK to host a British version of the US show So You Think You Can Dance. The live show kicks off tonight on BBC1

Cat Deeley has admitted to having compromised her love life for her work.

The presenter chose her career over long-term boyfriend and publicist Mark Whelan, splitting with him before moving to the US in May 2006.

Cat Deeley is considered to be one of the foremost TV presenters in the UK and US and is the current host of the US reality dance hit series of So You Think You Can Dance.

Cat is a double BAFTA Award-winner, and has won many other awards, for her work on UK primetime shows including Stars In Their Eyes; CD:UK Live (on which she appeared weekly for six years); SMTV: Live (which she hosted for three); Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, the V Festival (2004, 2005); The Brits; Record Of The Year; Elton John Live from New York; The Latin Grammy Awards and a one-hour special with U2, When Cat Met U2, for ITV.

During her time hosting numerous shows for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and MTV UK, Cat's many interviews include Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Prince, Marilyn Manson, Elton John, Joss Stone, Tom Jones and 50 Cent.

She hosted a weekly radio show, Cat And Edith's Hit Music Sunday, on a London radio station, and has made appearances on the TV comedies Happiness and Little Britain.

Cat also hosted the Prince's Trust 50th year celebration concert in London. This featured acts such as Annie Lennox, Lionel Richie and Pink. The concert was broadcast live across the world and watched by millions. Following this in 2007 Cat also presented the UK broadcast of American Idol on ITV2.

More recently, along with her work on So You Think You Can Dance, Cat has guest hosted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in the US and completed the series Soundtrack To My Life and Peter Kay's Britain's Got The Pop Factor... And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice.

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Davina McCall and Cat Deeley will go head to head in a ratings war as they kick-off a series of contests to find the nation’s brightest dance stars.

As one of our most successful telly expats, Cat Deeley is now more used to lounging by the pool in the Hollywood Hills.

But she is braving our winter to bring her smash-hit US show So You Think You Can Dance to Britain.

Brit babe Cat Deeley is finally coming home to host the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance.

 The former Stars In Their Eyes presenter made a name for herself across the pond three years ago to host the American version of the dance show.