Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan

Richard and Judy

Profession: Presenters

Richard and Judy quit teatime show - Nov 2 2007
Richard and Judy have quit their teatime show, it has been announced.

Channel 4 had decided not to renew the contract for a new series, but the husband and wife duo were also thought to be ready to step down.

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan will front their final programme on the sofa together at the end of next summer.

They found fame hosting ITV’s This Morning in 1988 and defected to Channel 4 in 2001.

But they were said to be unhappy after Channel 4 recently decided to cut back the couple’s shows to make way for Paul O’Grady to alternate in the same 5pm slot.

Their teatime show was also hit by the phone-in scandal over the You Say We Pay quiz earlier this year.

The last series of Richard and Judy attracted an average of 1.7 million viewers, down from two million last year.

Richard, 51, who plans to pursue a solo TV career, said: "We are looking forward to making two new series of our show next year.

"The programme is still full of life, but we have taken the difficult decision to leave it on a high."

Judy, 59, who is thought to want to do less TV work, said: "We’ve had a wonderful time presenting this show, and we intend to carry on with the Book Club, which has become very important to us.

"It feels like the right time for a change."

TV quiz fiasco ’may cover 14 weeks’ - Feb 23 2007
Richard and Judy’s phone quiz fiasco is likely to have affected all of last year’s summer run and every episode of the current series, Channel 4 has said.

The broadcaster is investigating whether the problem also happened in previous years.

The You Say, We Pay competition was pulled last Friday after a newspaper claimed viewers were being urged to enter the £1-a-time contest even though potential winners had already been chosen.

Husband-and-wife presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan urged viewers to call a special hotline if they entered the You Say, We Pay competition between June 19 and September 1 last year or between January 29 and February 15 this year.

They will be asked to send in a copy of their phone bill proving they called the show.

If Channel 4 discovers their call was not eligible for the contest, their £1 will be refunded.

The affected time period covers 14 weeks - or 70 programmes.

According to the Mail on Sunday, which first printed the story, 32,000 people who phoned the show in the week beginning February 5 had no chance of winning because the contestants had already been selected.

If the same number were cheated every week that the problem is said to have occurred, Channel 4 will have to refund £448,000.

A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "We cannot confirm any figures and we would caution against extrapolating them because the number of calls varies significantly from week to week."

Richard & Judy apologise for quiz fiasco - Feb 20 2007
Daytime TV hosts Richard and Judy have apologised to viewers who may have been cheated out of thousands of pounds in a phone-in competition.

Judy told viewers she was "shocked and also angry" after hearing about the You Say, We Pay fiasco.

It’s alleged that viewers, who pay £1 to enter the show’s You Say, We Pay competition, were encouraged to phone the premium rate number after the potential winners had been chosen.

Emails leaked to the Mail on Sunday reportedly showed more than 32,000 people phoned in the week beginning February 5 after they had no chance of winning. There was no evidence to suggest Richard and Judy had any previous knowledge of the alleged problem.

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Biography

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan met each other in 1982 and married in 1986. Madeley had begun his career as a journalist on local papers in Essex and east London, moving to BBC Radio Cumbria at 19 as a news producer and presenter.

Judy Finnegan was born and brought up in Manchester and studied English and Drama at Bristol University. She joined Granada as a researcher in 1971 and in 1974 became Anglia Television’s first female reporter. She rejoined Granada in 1980 and worked on a range of programmes including Flying Start, Granada Reports and Scramble.

They began fronting the new Granada programme This Morning together in 1988, their relaxed style and personal chemistry proving a big hit. Originally broadcast from Liverpool, the programme moved to London in 1996.

Judy’s health problems in 1997 led to rumours that their marriage was on the rocks, but she returned to the show after a three-month break. The show went on to celebrate its tenth birthday by winning a National Television Award for Best Daytime Show in 1998.

After so many years presenting This Morning, Richard and Judy have moved on to pastures new and an even fatter pay cheque from channel, This Morning will never be the same. There new afternoon programme starts on Channel 4 at the end of this year.
November 2007

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