Night terrors: The fear that haunts Judy
She may be living a quieter life, but Judy Finnigan admits she can’t escape the memories of her past…
Fans were delighted when, last Friday, they were treated to a blast from the past. Switching on This Morning – rather than usual hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes – viewers were surprised to see Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan back in their old stomping ground.
‘It feels like we’ve been defrosted,’ quipped Richard, 63, as the show opened.
It was a rare return to live TV for the couple – who were full-time hosts between 1988 until 2001 and returned to the programme for a stint last year for the first time in 19 years.
And Judy, 71, revealed that, even though she’s no longer a TV regular, she still suffers anxiety about live television.
Promoting the new series of Saturday Night Takeaway, Declan Donnelly was talking about pre-broadcast stress and said: ‘You have all those anxiety dreams. I have a TV in my bedroom with the red standby, I wake up in the night and I see that red light and I’m like: “We’re on, I’m not ready”.’
Judy instantly agreed, jumping in to add: ‘I haven’t done television in such a long while but I still get that dream. When you turn up to a studio and you know you are going live at any second, you haven’t got a clue, you haven’t got a script – you don’t know what is happening – you are stuck with that for the rest of your life.’
Richard couldn’t resist teasing his wife, saying: ‘I think I’m going to get a red light in our bedroom and pull a switch at 3am!’
Nowadays, Judy prefers to lead a quiet life in Cornwall, concentrating on writing her novels and spending time with her grandkids.
It will come as a disappointment to This Morning viewers, who were delighted to see the duo back on screen.
‘Just finished watching This Morning with Richard and Judy. It was delightful. Judy, you were brilliant. Making little mistakes added to the show. Well done to you both. More please!’ said one, while another added: ‘I’ve just gone back in time! Richard and Judy are back, Yaay’.
But some things don’t change – viewers were treated to Richard, once again, putting his foot in it. Talking about the perils of live television, he asked Ant McPartlin: ‘Have you ever had a complete breakdown?
I don’t mean personally?’
‘ Well, that’s happened,’ Ant quipped, referring to the scandal around his battles with drink and prescription drugs, his arrest for drink driving and his stint in rehab.
Oh, Richard. How we have missed you.