HE has one of the most famous – and long-lasting – marriages in showbiz.
But Richard Madeley reckons “ludicrous” government plans to keep over-70s locked down for the foreseeable future could “tear couples apart”.
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The presenter, who has been married to fellow TV host Judy Finnigan, 71, for 34 years, believes Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s recent letter asking all over-70s to stay indoors for 12 weeks is deeply divisive.
He says: “Because I am 63 that would mean Judy and I couldn’t go out together. It’s ludicrous.
“But hold on, what about all the other people with underlying health issues? Someone who is 30 years old with kidney problems or asthma?
“And obviously we don’t know why yet, but what about the BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) community, where Covid-19 appears to be more prevalent?
“What do you say there? People of colour, they’re at higher risk, so they have to stay home too?
“I think it’s profoundly unfair. You can’t just target one at-risk group. If you do that then you have to target all of the at-risk groups, which would be almost half the population.
“Also, 70-year-olds today are nothing like the 70-plusses of 30 years ago. And how do you enforce it? Make everyone go out with a passport or birth certificate?
“Something like this, for those with an age gap or whatever, could tear couples apart.
“I think the most they could and should do is offer advice and ask people to think very carefully.
“I think that’s as far as it can go. It’s a non-starter.”
Richard has been walking in Hampstead Heath near his North London home every day and remains in tip-top physical condition.
While Judy is also keeping fit, in January 2019 she had a major health scare and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
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She had life-saving surgery and, not surprisingly, the couple remain in awe of our NHS.
Richard, who is backing our Who Cares Wins appeal to raise £1million for our healthcare heroes, says: “Judy had been taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach and one of them penetrated an artery, which meant she was basically bleeding to death.
“She was throwing up blood, so I called an ambulance.
“The situation was horribly out of control and I was told that had I left it 20 minutes more she’d have been dead.
‘CALM, KIND AND GENTLE’
“But from the moment I called 999 and the ambulance coming four minutes later, it felt like all the responsibility and anxiety was lifted from me and absorbed on to them.
“They were so calm, so kind and so gentle, and very reassuring to Judy, and they saved her life.”
Richard adds that the bravery of frontline workers during the ongoing pandemic should be formally recognised.
He says: “This is a completely unprecedented situation. And they’ve stepped up to the plate.
“They could have screwed up, been too frightened to come to work, but they didn’t.
“It’s almost like heroism in wartime. You have to recognise talent, bravery and commitment when it happens and it is happening right before our eyes.”
While lockdown is seeing many couples up and down the country arguing — and in some cases splitting up — if any pair can survive being cooped up together it is Richard and Judy.
The hugely popular duo, who hosted ITV’s This Morning for 12 years until 2001, may have memorably bickered on-air back in the day, but off camera they remain as close as ever.
Richard says the key to lockdown survival for couples is, “Space . . . and lots of it”.
He adds: “It’s a really obvious one, but give each other as much space as possible.
“You’re together so much more than normal, even more than on a weekend.
“It’s day after day after day, and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t rub each other up the wrong way every now and then like two cats going up and down the stairs.
“After nearly 35 years of marriage you can spot the signs of tension, there’s something in the air that starts to crackle.
“That is the signal to leave the room, to go for a walk, go into another room and read a book or count backwards from 100. Even if you’re living together in a small flat, just go for a walk.
“I read a really good analogy by a social psychologist saying that arguments are very much like tennis rallies, with the shots — or words — getting more and more aggressive.
“Instead of adding to the velocity and hitting back harder, you envisage being a brick wall and let everything bounce off you. I am going to try it next time.”
The couple, who have two grown-up children, Jack, 34, a talent agent, and Chloe, 32, a personal trainer, are now back on our screens, albeit broadcasting from their own home.
Both best-selling authors in their own right, they will also host a “book club meets chat show” series that kicks off on Channel 4 tomorrow, with guests including Graham Norton, David Walliams, Judge Rinder and Sandi Toksvig.
Richard now believes the pandemic may change TV forever.
He says: “No one’s getting any money in TV at the moment because there is no money.
“I don’t know how things will be when we come out of this, but things will change, undoubtedly.
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“For example, you can just see a production company and commissioning editor at the BBC negotiating terms of a contract and the latter saying, ‘Woah, during the lockdown you did that show for tuppence ha’penny and you turned it around in a week. I’m not giving you six months and £1million’.
“But, as Judy pointed out, if we had that conversation now we would make the case that they had the use of a free house for a week. So there’s that to consider.
“But I do think there will be a lot more broadcasting done from home now, especially pre-record, because we’ve seen it can be done.”
- Richard and Judy: Keep Reading And Carry On starts tomorrow at 5.30pm on Channel 4.
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