Richard Madeley

Richard Holt Madeley ( born 13 May 1956) is an English television presenter and writer.

Madeley was born in Romford, Essex on 13 May 1956, the son of journalist Christopher Holt Madeley (died 1977), from a family of tenant farmers at Kiln Farm, Shawbury, Shropshire, and Mary Claire (née McEwan).

His mother was Canadian.

He attended Shenfield High School in Brentwood.

He moved to Granada Reports in the early 1980s where he met his future wife Judy Finnigan.

Alongside his wife Judy Finnigan, he presented ITV's This Morning (1988–2002) and the Channel 4 chat show Richard & Judy (2001–2008).

Madeley presented the last two seasons of the game show, quiz show Connections, from 1988–1989, and the daytime quiz Runway from 1988–1993.

Madeley and Finnigan won on the season finale of season 2 of a TV version of the classic board game Cluedo in 1991.

In 1991, he presented a series on the world's wildest weather, Eye of the Storm.

The couple left This Morning in 2001, having been approached by Channel 4 to host a similar show, called Richard & Judy, shown for an hour in the early evenings.

The show was produced by Cactus TV.

Madeley's solo projects include the series Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway (2007) and covering for The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2.

In February 2007, Madeley and Finnigan apologised live on air due to the discovery of a TV quiz phone scam regarding the daily phone-in competition You Say We Pay.

Madeley and Finnigan took the decision to suspend the daily quiz until further notice.

Later that week, the news media confirmed that police investigations would be pursued, meaning the couple could be subject to a police interview.

Channel 4 admitted the scam may have been in force for two series of the show.

Whilst Madeley and Finnigan had urged callers to continue entering, it was confirmed that winners were picked in the first 10 minutes of the show.

The couple both denied being involved in the scam.

He hosted the ITV1 show Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway in 2007, and was the presenter for the unaired pilot of the home video show You've Been Framed in 1990.

Madeley hosted the news quiz Have I Got News for You on 14 December 2007, and then featured as a guest panellist in May 2011.

He sat in for Richard Bacon on BBC Radio 5 Live.

In 2008, Madeley told The Guardian that his father was physically abusive, with little provocation.

He estimated that during a period of two years his father beat him with a stick about 25 times.

The final and most vicious beating occurred when Richard was aged 10.

His father ordered him to remove his shirt and then hit Richard "repeatedly, dementedly, with a stick".

The wounds he suffered kept him away from school.

The abuse stopped when his mother, previously out at work so unaware of her husband's harsh discipline, told him that she would call the police if it happened again; Madeley stated that after this, his father gave a full and frank apology and he never hit Richard again.

Due to low audience numbers, the show ended in July 2009.

The presenters stated that viewers "simply couldn't find us".

Madeley and Finnigan's show Richard & Judy Book Club was shown on digital channel Watch.

Whilst working on their daytime show, the couple have been involved in other projects.

Madeley also covered for Dawn Patrol presenter Sarah Kennedy during the week of 27–30 April 2009, for Zoë Ball for two months until 27 February, and on numerous occasions for Chris Evans' Breakfast Show, all on BBC Radio 2.

He appeared on Piers Morgan's Life Stories in April 2009 and was a guest on BBC Question Time in January 2010.

In 2011, Madeley was featured in the eighth season of Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing his mother's ancestors to Canada and the United States.

He was the main relief presenter of Channel 5's The Wright Stuff (2012–2017), and since 2017, he has been one of three main relief presenters of ITV breakfast show Good Morning Britain.

In April 2013, he appeared as a Dictionary Corner guest on Countdown for five shows.

Madeley presented his own show on Radio 2, Madeley on Sunday (previously Made on Sunday), covering for Terry Wogan's Weekend Wogan over Wogan's holidays.

In 2014, Madeley said he was surprised by the level of media interest the beatings generated, "because to me, it was abnormal not to be hit back then", and said he almost regretted writing about it in his 2008 book Fathers and Sons, noting to the general public the beatings are not the defining thing about his father, and calling his father "fun, bright, warm and tactile".

Christopher Madeley had himself been subject to physical abuse by his father, Geoffrey.

Madeley joined BBC Radio Carlisle at the age of 19.