Richard and Judy

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are married co-stars of British daytime television programmes. Regularly described as 'national treasures', they are widely known as simply Richard and Judy and are famously beloved of the UK's large student population, among whom they are lovingly revered as two cult figures.

Since their marriage, their television appearances have been largely made as a couple, though each has had the occasional solo project.

Biography

Judy Finnigan

Finnigan was born in Manchester on 16 May 1948. She attended the Withington Girls' School, an independent school in the city, and later studied English and Drama at Bristol University. She joined Granada Television as a researcher in 1971, and in 1974 moved to Anglia TV in Norwich and the About Anglia news team to become its first female reporter. In 1980 she came back to Granada in Manchester, working on a range of programmes including Flying Start with Anthony Wilson, Granada Reports and Scramble.

Richard Madeley

Madeley was born in Romford on 13 May 1956. He attended the Coopers' Company School at Bow, Essex (in East London), but did not go to university. He began his media career in local newspapers in Essex, before moving to BBC Radio Carlisle at the age of 19. He soon moved to nearby Border Television as a reporter on the Lookaround local news slot, before fronting its equivalent Calendar with Richard Whiteley on the much bigger Yorkshire TV, and then on to Granada Reports for Granada from the early 1980s. Here he met Judy who, assigned to look after him on his first day, greeted him with the words "Hello, I'm your mummy".

After the success of This Morning, he hit the headlines when he was arrested on charges of shoplifting champagne from Tesco in 1990, but later acquitted. In February 2006 on Richard & Judy, while discussing the row over the Danish cartoons that have polarised Muslims the world over, Madeley declared himself to be a Christian. During an interview with Matt Lucas and David Walliams, Madeley declared that he was bisexual. In July 2006 on Richard & Judy, while discussing the study of sperm and stem cells, Madeley declared that he has had a vasectomy.

As a couple

They met in 1982 when they worked on separate programmes for Granada TV. At this time, they were both at the end of unhappy first marriages. The couple married in 1986. They have two children together - Jack (born 1986) and Chloe (born 1987) - and Finnigan has twin sons (born 1978) from her first marriage.

This Morning

Their most well-known show has undoubtedly been This Morning, which they hosted from its inception 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 most people referred to it by their names, Richard and Judy, rather than This Morning.

Richard & Judy on C4

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. It has a slightly greater emphasis on interviews. As of 2006 this show is still being broadcast.

Criticism

The couple have been criticised for 'glorifying' certain celebrity guests with whom they are friends. For example, they were recently accused of 'protecting' Heather Mills-McCartney by insisting reports of tension in her marriage were "media led" only.

The couple have also been criticised for providing work experience through friend and LBC presenter Nick Ferarri. Their son, Jack, has reportedly been working at controversial London station LBC 97.3.

Other work

Whilst working on their daytime show, the pair have had time for other projects. Madeley, for example, presented several series of a TV version of the classic board game Cluedo, TV Game show Connections,the daytime quiz Runway as well as a series on the world's wildest weather called 'Eye of the Storm'.

Public Image

Whilst Madeley can be a rather pugnacious figure while conducting their interviews, his wife sports a more mumsy demeanour.

Indeed much of their popularity stems from his frequent mentions of life at home, which Finnigan would much rather leave private. She is often seen squirming with embarrassment as her husband openly discloses an intimate detail regarding their sex life together, or makes a similarly inappropriate or suggestive remark.

The tabloid newspapers were delighted therefore that, when the pair received an award for Most Popular Daytime Programme at the 2000 National Television Awards, Finnigan's dress accidentally dropped down exposing her ample cleavage, shielded only by a portion of her very practical bra to a television audience of millions. (View clip here [1]) Initially, the couple seemed to believe that the crowd was laughing and cheering for a rendition of Madeley's notorious Ali G impersonation rather than the sight of Judy's bust. When Finnigan realised what had happened, she appeared momentarily horrified, whereas Madeley appeared to relish the situation, and quickly ad-libbed: "And if we win next year, she'll show you the other one!" He has also made light of the incident in subsequent interviews, remarking that Finnigan "has fantastic tits", and suggesting that the size of her breasts was one of the factors that first attracted him to her.

In the early 1990s, Madeley was wrongly accused of shoplifting from the Didsbury branch of Tesco, when he absent-mindedly forgot to produce for payment items that were resting on the base of the trolley that he was using. He has subsequently said that whilst he bears Tesco no malice, his wife refuses to shop there. In 2004, when interviewing President Clinton, Madeley suggested that Clinton's impeachment was akin to his own persecution over the shoplifting allegations - a comparison that rendered the former President somewhat perplexed.

Madeley is known for his playful banter and sense of humour, as well as his ability to laugh at himself. In 2005, the couple won a competition on the XFM Breakfast Show with Christian O'Connell, to find the best celebrities willing to speak to O'Connell during the show. Madeley secured the title by suggesting that male listeners might want to make their manhoods appear larger by trimming their pubic hair.

His interviewing style is also often a subject of some mild amusement and ridicule, having once told the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor that "you've got an unusual face, it's almost Egyptian", and has been compared to the satirical tv character Alan Partridge - view thread at Digital Spy.

In 2005 the couple appeared in the music magazine Q in the "Cash for Questions" feature. As well as engaging in some self-deprecating banter, Madeley also referred to one of the couple's guests that they had tried to interview, as a "cunt".