Talent Biography
Richard Madeley & Judy Finnigan
Richard Madeley began his career as a local journalist in Essex. At 19, he joined BBC Cumbria as a news producer and presenter before joining Border Television as a reporter/presenter in 1978. In 1980 Richard moved to Yorkshire Television where he reported and presented on regional Yorkshire Television programmes before moving on to Granada TV in 1982.
Judy Finnigan began her career as a TV researcher for Granada TV in 1971 after graduating from Bristol University with English and Drama BA Hons. Following a year's working holiday in America, Judy returned to the television industry in 1974 to take her first on-screen job as Anglia Television's first female reporter. She rejoined Granada in 1980 and worked on a range of live programmes including Granada Reports, which she co-presented with Richard.
In October 1988, Richard and Judy recorded their first episode of This Morning from the Albert Dock in Liverpool. They went on to present the programme for 13 years and established themselves as Britain's favourite TV couple. Whilst on ITV, their much-loved presenting helped the programme scoop the coveted award for Most Popular Daytime Programme at the National Television Awards in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Other collaborative successes for the couple include Get A Life, Tonight and the British Soap Awards.
Individually, Judy presented the Granada TV Coronation Street Specials, two series of the Judy Finnigan Debate and the primetime consumer show We Can Work it Out, whilst Richard presented the adult series of Connections, Runway and the extremely popular Eye of the Storm.
In 2001, Richard and Judy left ITV to present Richard & Judy for Channel 4, weeknights 5pm-6pm. The show combines news-reactive items, light informal features and celebrity interviews. Recent guests have included J K Rowling, Elizabeth Hurley, Charlize Theron, Neve Campbell, Kathleen Turner, Tony Blair, Christian Slater, Al Gore and Angelica Houston.
Viewing figures for Richard and Judy's teatime show have steadily increased and it now regularly attracts audiences of up to 2.6 million viewers. In May 2004 Channel 4 re-commissioned Richard & Judy for another three years which secures the presenters to the channel until December 2007.
In January 2006 Richard and Judy agreed to further extend their existing contract with Channel 4 until the end of 2008, and to share their teatime slot with Paul O’Grady, each presenting their magazine shows for half of the year.
Richard and Judy are also responsible for a revolution in the nation’s reading habits, following the phenomenal success of their literary programme strands, particularly Book Club and Summer Read which both launched in 2004. To date Book Club has sold over 10 million books and generated over £60 million in book sales. Its featured titles are known to increase sales by as much as 3,000 per cent overnight. Book Club has turned at least eight authors into multi-millionaires.
In autumn 2006, Richard and Judy made a cameo appearance in Extras with Ricky Gervais on BBC2, and in early 2007, Richard presented Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway on ITV.
Richard and Judy have been married to each other for over 20 years, and live in North London. They have a son, Jack, and a daughter, Chloe, who, following in their parents’ footsteps, co-presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth for a week in August 2007; Judy also has twin sons from her first marriage.
Contact: Ali Clapperton
