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Richard and Judy is a term used to refer to married British television presentersRichard Madeley andJudy Finnigan. They co-hosted theITV programmeThis Morning from 1988 to 2001 and later presented the chat showRichard & Judy from 2001 to 2009.
Madeley and Finnigan met in 1982 while working on separate television programmes forGranada Television. Both were married to other people at the time. After divorcing their previous spouses, they began a relationship and married in 1986 inManchester. The couple had two children together: Jack Christopher (born 1986) andChloe Susannah (born 1987), both born in Manchester.
They presentedThis Morning from its launch in 1988 until 2001. The programme featured a range of segments, including celebrity interviews, household tips, cookery, andphone-ins, and typically aired for around two hours each weekday morning onITV. Initially broadcast from theAlbert Dock inLiverpool, production moved toLondon in 1996.
Since leaving, Madeley has appeared onThis Morning solo to promote his autobiography. On 5 October 2009, the couople joined the show's then-current hosts,Phillip Schofield andHolly Willoughby, to celebrate its 21st anniversary. They also returned for a special one-off episode to mark the programme's 25th anniversary.[citation needed]
In 2001, they leftThis Morning after being approached byChannel 4 to host a programme titledRichard & Judy, which aired for one hour in the teatime slot.
The show was produced by Cactus TV, a company run bySimon Ross, the brother ofJonathan Ross, and his wifeAmanda Ross. In February 2007, the couple issued a public apology on air following the discovery of a phone scam related to the daily quiz You Say We Pay, in which winners were selected in advance while viewers were still encouraged to call the premium-rate entry number. On the same broadcast, Madeley and Finnigan announced that the quiz would be suspended until further notice. Later that week, it was reported that police investigations would be conducted, potentially leading to interviews with the hosts. Channel 4 stated that the scam might have occurred over two series of the show. Both hosts denied involvement in the scam,[1] which was exposed byThe Mail on Sunday after receiving the story from media publicist Jonathan Hartley.
The show introduced two clubs: theRichard & Judy Book Club and the Richard & Judy Wine Club, which were similar in format to those associated withOprah Winfrey. The Book Club focused on literature by new and emerging authors, with one book reviewed each week. An awards ceremony was held annually to announce the book selected as "Read of the Year".
In July 2008, Finnigan underwent knee surgery and took a brief leave of absence from the show to recover. During this period, Madeley was joined by guest presentersEmma Bunton andMyleene Klass, and presented one edition of the show alone on 23 July 2008.
In 2008, it was announced that their Channel 4 series which began in June would be the last for the programme, and ended on 22 August 2008. However, they signed a contract for a newprime-time show on UKTV's new channel, Watch. Their new show still contained features such as the "Book Club" and "Summer Read".
Richard and Judy began hosting a new topical chat show onUKTV's digital channel,Watch, after seven years at Channel 4. The programme,Richard and Judy's New Position, premiered on 7 October 2008 and aired weeknights at 8:00 PM. The first episode was viewed by 200,000 people, but viewership declined over time, with the second episode attracting 53,000 viewers and numbers eventually falling to 11,000. This contrasted with their previous show on Channel 4, which had garnered up to 2.5 million viewers.[2] Due to the decline in viewership, it was announced on 8 May 2009 that the show would be discontinued in July. The presenters commented that the low ratings were due to a lack of audience engagement.[3]
Richard and Judy co-wrote an autobiography,Richard and Judy: The Autobiography, which was published in 2002 byHodder & Stoughton.