Richard and Judy

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Template:About Image:Richardandjudy.jpgRichard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are married co-stars of British daytime television programmes. They are widely known as simply Richard and Judy.

Judy Finnigan was born in Manchester on 16 May 1948. Richard Madeley was born in Romford on 13 May 1956. The couple married in 1986. Since then their television appearances have been largely made as a couple, though each has had the occasional solo project. Their most well-known show has undoubtedly been This Morning. 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. The show first aired in October 1988 with Richard and Judy at the helm. They were so closely associated with the show, that most people referred to it by their names, "Richard and Judy", rather than "This Morning". For many years the show was broadcast from the Albert Dock in Liverpool, though it did later move to London in 1996.

In 2001, they quit This Morning, having been poached 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 screened.

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, as well as a series on the World's Wildest Weather.

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 Richard's frequent mentions of life at home, which Judy would much rather leave private. The tabloid newspapers were delighted therefore that, when the pair received an award for Most Popular Daytime Programme at the 2000 National Television Awards, Judy's svelte velvet dress accidentally dropped down exposing a portion of her very practical bra to a television audience numbering in the millions. The embarrassment of the situation was compounded by the fact that Richard and Judy seemed to believe that the crowd was laughing and cheering for a rendition of Richard's notorious Ali G impersonation rather than at Judy's open dress. Upon realisation of the actual situation, Madeley quickly ad-libbed: "And if we win next year, she'll show you the other one!"

A low point in the successful career of Richard Madeley was when he was arrested on charges of shoplifting champagne from Tesco in 1990. He was later acquitted.

In February 2006 on Richard & Judy while discussing the row over the Danish cartoons that have polarised Muslims the world over, Richard declared himself to be a Christian.

The couple have two children; Jack (born 1987) and Chloe (born 1988).