Richard Madeley has spoken openly about the reasons his wife and former co-presenter Judy Finnigan decided to step away from her television career after four decades.
A Reluctant Star
Madeley and Finnigan, who married in 1986, presented together for many years on ITV's This Morning and the Channel 4 programme Richard and Judy. Finnigan, now 77, has largely retreated from the television spotlight. Her last regular hosting role alongside Madeley was the UKTV series Richard and Judy's New Position, which aired from 2008 to 2009. She later appeared as a regular panellist on ITV's Loose Women between 2014 and 2015, and has made occasional guest appearances since.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Madeley discussed Finnigan's decision to retire from regular TV presenting. 'She's fine,' he said. 'We run the Richard and Judy Book Club, and we've got a contract to do that for two years, and that takes up our time together.'
'She was always quite a reluctant television presenter, Judy. Like a lot of us, she sort of fell into it. She wasn't ever particularly ambitious, she was just f***ing good – I mean really good – at her job, and that's why she did so well. And obviously, we clicked together on screen.'
The Richard and Judy Book Club originated as a segment on their chat show and evolved into a highly influential source of book recommendations. Madeley added: 'She loves not being on telly. Just loves it.'
Alan Partridge Comparisons Dismissed
In the same interview, the 70-year-old presenter brushed aside the frequent comparisons to Alan Partridge, the bumbling Norfolk broadcaster portrayed by Steve Coogan. 'To be honest with you, I couldn't give a tuppeny f***,' Madeley stated when asked about the likeness.
New Documentary Venture
Madeley's latest project is a Channel 5 documentary that takes him inside a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. 'When I walked into the hangar, the shock was phenomenal,' he recalled. 'It's eerily quiet. That took a little while to sink in. But it was the visual shock of just seeing all of these men and knowing that what I was looking at was their permanent state of being.'
'This isn't a transit camp,' he continued. 'This is their present, their future and their death. And it is really disturbing, whatever they've done, to see human beings held in conditions like that.'
Richard Madeley: Inside the World's Mega Prison airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on 27 May.
