Richard and Judy

This article is about the television presenters. For their programme of the same name, see Richard & Judy. For the 2002 song of the same name, see The Supernaturals. For the New Zealand television newsreading team, see Richard Long (broadcaster) and Judy Bailey.

Richard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a British married couple who are both television presenters and columnists. They are best known for presenting the daytime television programme This Morning from 1988 until 2001 and then hosting the daily chat show Richard & Judy from 2001 until 2009.

Marriage and family

Richard and Judy met in 1982 when they worked on separate programmes for Granada Television. At this time each was in their first marriage. The couple married in 1986 in Manchester. They have two children together, both born in Manchester: Jack Christopher (born 1986) and Chloe Susannah (born 1987).

This Morning

Their best known show was This Morning, which they hosted from its inception in 1988 until 2001. The series, a mix of celebrity interviews, household tips, cookery and phone-ins lasted approximately two hours each weekday morning on ITV. This live show set the standard for daytime fare in British television throughout the 1990s. It first aired in October 1988 and was broadcast from the Albert Dock in Liverpool, although production moved to London in 1996. They were so closely associated with the show, that many people referred to it by their names, Richard and Judy, rather than This Morning.

Since leaving, Madeley has appeared on the show by himself, publicising his autobiography, and the couple joined the show's current presenters, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, on 5 October 2009, to celebrate its twenty first birthday. They returned to the program for a one-off 25th birthday show.

Richard & Judy

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

The show was produced by Cactus TV, run by Jonathan Ross' brother Simon and his wife Amanda Ross. In February 2007, the couple publicly apologised live on air due to the discovery of a TV quiz phone scam regarding the daily phone in You Say We Pay. On the same show, 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 have admitted the scam may have been in force for two series of the show. Whilst Madeley and Finnigan urged callers to continue entering, it was confirmed that winners were picked in the first ten minutes of the show. The couple both deny being involved in the scam.[1] This scam was revealed by the Mail on Sunday newspaper after it was sold the story through media publicist Jonathan Hartley.

The TV show also launched two very successful "clubs", the Richard & Judy Book Club and the Richard & Judy Wine Club, both of which are similar in style to those used by Oprah Winfrey. The book club featured literature by new and unknown writers. One book was reviewed each week and the winner, named "Read of the Year," was announced at an awards ceremony.

In July 2008, Judy finally received a long-awaited knee operation and took a short leave of absence from the show in order to fully recuperate from the surgery. During this time Richard was joined by guest presenters Emma Bunton and Myleene Klass and even presented one edition of the show on his own (Wednesday 23 July 2008).

In 2008 it was announced that their Channel 4 series which began in June would be the last for the programme, which ended on 22 August 2008. However, they signed a contract for a new primetime show on UKTV's new channel, Watch. Their new show still contained popular features such as the "Book Club" and "Summer Read".

Move to Watch

After seven years at Channel Four, Richard and Judy began hosting a topical prime-time chat show on UKTV's brand new digital channel, Watch. From 7 October 2008, Richard and Judy’s New Position was broadcast on weeknights at 8.00 pm. The show attracted very low viewing figures, with only 200,000 people for the first episode, and 53,000 for the second. Viewing figures consistently fell, eventually reaching just 11,000 viewers; their Channel 4 programme had seen figures as high as 2.5 million.[2] Consequently, on 8 May 2009 it was announced that the show would end in July, the presenters saying in a statement that viewers "simply couldn't find us".[3]

Other work together

Both co-wrote their autobiography, Richard and Judy: The Autobiography, in 2002, published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Preceded by
N/A		 Hosts of This Morning
1988–2001 		Succeeded by
Coleen Nolan and Twiggy

Political views

Madeley has expressed strong support for the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and applauded the Iraq War, claiming international law on the issue was "incredibly complicated".[4] He has been described as a neocon,[5] Blair’s “self-appointed apologist”, and Blair’s “yapping Pekingese”.[6] Madeley has condemned the anti-war Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.[7][8]

In an interview, Madeley named Cuban leader Fidel Castro as the person he most despises.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Terri Judd (19 February 2007). "Revealed: Richard and Judy quiz scam". The Independent. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
  2. ↑ "Turning off Richard and Judy". The Independent. 30 November 2008.
  3. ↑ "Early exit for Richard and Judy". BBC News. 8 May 2009.
  4. ↑ “Richard Madeley on Tony Blair going to war in Iraq - TV presenter Richard Madeley on why he thinks Tony Blair was right to go to war in Iraq.” - BBC
  5. ↑ “Richard Madeley: neocon - Hilarious intervention on Iraq from Mr Judy Finnegan” - Mehdi Hasan, 4 February, 2010
  6. ↑ “Richard Madeley is nothing but a lapdog for Tony Blair” - The Mirror - 5 February 2010
  7. ↑ The Labour lemmings take a leap Richard and Judy, Sunday Express, Mon, Aug 17, 2015, updated Mon, Aug 17, 2015
  8. ↑ Labour is so long past its sell-by date - Richard and Judy - The Express - Friday 21 August 2015
  9. ↑ Rosanna Greenstreet (16 December 2006). "Q&A – Richard Madeley & Judy Finnigan". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2007.

References

External links

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