OK! ICONS RICHARD AND JUDY
OK! CELEBRATES HUSBAND AND WIFE PRESENTING TEAM RICHARD MADELEY AND JUDY FINNIGAN AFTER THEIR TV COMEBACK
With their natural chemistry and on-air bickering, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan were the king and queen of daytime TV during their 13 years on This Morning.
The husband and wife duo then went on to present their own Channel 4 chat show. But in 2011 Judy quit the small screen for a successful writing career, vowing: ‘I wouldn’t remotely want to do television again.’
Their fans were devastated – so imagine their joy when the pair made a triumphant return to the This Morning sofa last week for a one-off special, 18 years after they last hosted.
‘When the show’s editor asked if we’d come back and front a whole show, I just kind of mentally shrugged and thought, what the hell? – a bit like
Doc Brown in Back To The Future,’ said Judy, 71.
‘We both got a real kick out of it and enjoyed taking the p*** out of each other again, just like we used to,’ added Richard, 63, raising hopes that they’ll sign up for a regular one-day-aweek slot in spring next year.
The couple, who’ve been married for 33 years, met while working at Granada
TV. They were both married to other people at the time and Judy had twin boys Dan and Tom. ‘I was very much in love with Richard and I wanted to be with him and have more children with him,’ she later recalled.
‘Judy is my heart,’ Richard once said. ‘If she wasn’t here it would remove all the point to my life.’
Things haven’t always been easy for the pair. Following the tragedy of a miscarriage and a still-born son, they welcomed Jack, now 33, and Chloe, now 32. Judy also dealt with postnatal depression that led to a traumatic hysterectomy.
But their rich life experience has helped them tackle taboo topics on and off telly, openly
sharing everything from their sexual habits to suicide pledges. Talking of their assisted death pact, Richard has said he wouldn’t hesitate to give Judy ‘a little push to go over the edge’ and Judy would do the same. ‘I wouldn’t give a tuppenny f*** if there was a risk of being prosecuted. I’d do what was right for my wife,’ says Richard.
Fiercely loyal and protective of one another, theirs is most definitely a forever partnership – and the secret to their partnership? ‘Luck in finding each other in the first place; luck in growing roughly in the same direction since, like ivy up the same wall,’ says Richard.
Likewise, we’re so lucky to have them back on our screens and back in our lives.