The End of Richard And Judy?

[Pip Madeley]

Not their marriage, but their professional relationship...

Judy Finnegan to quit television?

Judy Finnegan is planning to give up television to become an author - leaving Richard Madeley to present alone, a report has claimed.

The husband-and-wife on-screen partnership will come to an end with the completion of their current Channel 4 contract later this year, according to the News of the World. Judy is understood to be leaving television to spend her time writing books, says the report, while Richard will relaunch himself as a lone presenter.

"Judy simply doesn't want to be on TV any more," explained an executive. "She loves spending time at home and wants to be a housewife for a bit." He added: "It has been hard for her to keep up with Richard for a while. He is so vibrant and ambitious."

A Channel 4 source confirmed the pair had not yet extended their contract until the end of 2008, says the paper.

Can Richard go it alone? Or like all Madeleys, is he too smug and too wide?

[Dirk Gently]

I can't stick him & I'd like to see him do something different from other Madeley's...and sink without a trace.

[SiHart]

At last they can call it This Morning With Richard Not Judy! haha!

Si xx

[Alex]

Funnily enough I just managed to get hold of that, tis a marvellous thing of rare beauty. Anyway, um, I think this is for the best really, Judy seems to struggle to keep up with what's going on these days, or spends the show getting p'd off with Richard slagging her off.

I can't see the C4 show working without it being a double act though, but I imagine Richard will find work elsewhere.

[Martin Penny]

At last they can call it This Morning With Richard Not Judy! haha!

Si xx

I look forward to Richard replacing Judy with the curious orange.

[Milky Tears]

Looks like Richard and Judy are DOOOOOOOOMED!!

The daytime chat is over as Channel 4 drops Richard and Judy



That's saved starting a new thread. Do I get a prize?

[Rob McCow]

Yes - your prize is this reply.

[Pip Madeley]

The end is postponed:

Chat show duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan will move to digital broadcaster UKTV in the autumn. The couple, who announced they were quitting their teatime slot on Channel 4 in November, will host an hour-long "high octane" primetime show. The broadcaster said the duo will make their debut on a "new look channel" later this year.

Madeley, 51, said: "We were both hugely impressed by the team at UKTV,and their proposal was attractive and fun and will give us the kind of flexibility in our personal lives we've been looking for." He added that the pair's popular book club will continue on the new programme, which is also expected to feature celebrity guests.

Finnigan, 59, said: "When we announced our decision to leave our current television series after seven years, we were very touched by the number of people who told us how much they wanted to see us continuing making programmes together."

Their move to a digital channel is likely to mean a dip in ratings. The couple currently attract almost three million viewers to their Channel 4 programme.
UKTV controller Matthew Littleford said: "I am so excited to have signed Richard and Judy - they are truly my TV heroes." The broadcaster's current portfolio of channels includes Dave, which is watched by three million viewers per day, UKTV Gold and UKTV History.

[Rob McCow]

will host an hour-long "high octane" primetime show

You can smell the petrol fumes coming off that!

[Larry]

well they are going to have even less people watching them on UKTV then they have on channel 5.

[WhiteCrow]

Sounds to be honest like the original story about "quitting to become an author" was a bit of spin to cover "we're being dropped like a stone".

[Dave Lewis]

Richard and Judy bugger off to some digital channel that nobody watches for some money or something

I've searched PS exhaustively * for a thread 'commemerating' Richard and Judy's defection (not a misspelling) to UKTV but alas, I can't find one.

Madeley truly is the grand master of the faux pas - even I didn't know half of these grotesque examples of foot-in-mouth-disease; some of them are beyond Partridge.

To JK Rowling: "You are unbelievably wealthy. Beyond the dreams of avarice, really."

To Rebecca Loos: "Will you end up with a bloke or a woman?"

To a young kid with leukaemia: "Hello baldy!"

To Sophie Ellis Bextor: "Where did you get your face?"

To transvestite artist Grayson Perry: "You're just humming with sexual energy! Is it the fabric? Is it wearing tights?"

To Jade Goody: "You're quite sharp. It's just that in the pure sense of the word, you're ignorant."

Interviewing a man with a stutter: After watching a clip of the guy struggling with his stutter: "You looked as if your head was going to come off!"

To George Martin: "Your short-term memory really is shot! It must drive you nuts!"

To a girl with an eating disorder: Unfortunately, she can't stop eating junk food: "Don't take this the wrong way love, but when you were younger did you have a brother or sister who used to steal food off you? You know like dogs do? And that's why they wolf their food down….?"

To Lewis Pugh: "You've previously made waves by breaking long-distance swimming records in the Arctic and Antarctic. Tell me, when you swim in the Antarctic, do your nuts go really, really tiny?"

To Nancy Sinatra: "Now obviously you loved your father, but do you think you were actually in love with him?"

To a woman with an obsession: She had had a crush on a celebrity and had even stalked the star in question. It was all handled sensitively and then Richard said - "So, when did you first realise that you were quite clearly mad?"

Interviewing actress Claire Goose: "Weren't you once a story-telling raccoon in a theme park? What sort of stories did you have to tell as a raccoon? Did you have a special raccoon voice?"

To a teenage anorexic: "Five Stone? Wow! That's concentration camp thin, that is."

"So, when did you first realise you were quite clearly mad?"

Wise words, Richard.


* I looked through the first two pages of The Ratings War.

[Dave Lewis]

I've just realised why Pip is looking at this thread...

[Pip Madeley]

Not thorougly enough!

I watched the last half an hour of Dick N' Judy tonight. Wasn't impressed by the male strippers.

[Milky Tears]

It's sitting on my hard drive.

[Pip Madeley]

Along with the last seven years worth of episodes I'll wager.

[Dave Lewis]

I did offer the caveat that I'd only looked through the first two screens...



The image of Richard and Judy sitting - or rather, squatting - over James' hard drive is one of the reasons I returned to PS. That and the fun of spending thirty minutes composing a reply to that thread about Jacqueline Wilson using the word "twat" and then deleting the lot. Good times!

[Wayne]

It's sitting on my hard drive.

James & the missing h.

[Pip Madeley]

Uncle Dick and Aunty Judy are struggling...

Richard Madeley has insisted that he is remaining positive about the future of Richard & Judy's New Position.

The chatshow is said to be facing the axe from Watch after viewing figures dropped to just 8,000 last month.

Madeley and his wife Judy Finnigan made their debut on the multi-channel TV service in October after filming the final episode of their Channel 4 show. Their new programme initially attracted 100,000 viewers, but the ratings quickly dropped.

Speaking to Radio 4, Madeley explained: "We knew before we went that viewing figures were going to be minuscule.

"The only disappointment so far is the channel as a whole hasn't taken good traction. If I thought the show was rubbish I would feel embarrassed and so would Judy.

"But it's a good show. We're getting really good guests and we just hope the audience will build."

Finnigan recently revealed that she would be "happy" to quit TV in the future.