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Magdalene Dalziel & Lorna Hughes

Richard Madeley's love life from 'ten affairs' confession to forbidden Judy romance

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have been married for more than 35 years and are still going strong. The TV stars met when they were both working as TV reporters and tied the knot in 1986, four years after meeting.

Their chemistry kept This Morning viewers hooked throughout the 1980s and 90s. And while it's now hard to imagine Richard without Judy, his romantic lives hasn't always been so rosy.

The stars were both previously married and Richard has been honest about his past affairs, the Daily Record reports. He admitted he cheated while he was married to first wife Lynda Hooley, before he met Judy.

Richard was just 21 when he married Lynda and he has since admitted that the marriage was a mistake. Speaking about his past affairs before falling in love with Judy, Richard - now a regular presenter on Good Morning Britain - previously told the Mirror: "Oh lots, numerous, probably in the space of about five years, about 10.

"Although the marriage had some very happy moments, there was a lot of negativity in it. I'm not using that as an excuse. It's wrong to have affairs, but I was a very young man."

Judy, now 74, first saw Richard when he joined her at Granada as a news presenter and she was assigned the task of looking after him. She has said she thought he "looked nice" and remembers him as "tall and handsome" and wearing a pale blue linen suit.

For his part, Richard already had a crush on Judy after watching her on TV. And their first exchange has gone down in history.

Richard said: "I was sitting at my desk when this hand appeared on my shoulder and I looked up at this face and Judy said, 'Hi, I'm your Mummy' and I thought 'Whaaaaat?'" Explaining the joke, he continued: "At Granada when someone new arrived, someone was appointed as their dad or their mum to show them round – the canteen, the toilets and all that. So Judy was my 'mum'."

At the time Judy was still married to journalist David Henshaw, while Richard was in the process of splitting from Lynda. One night they went out for dinner and their affair began, although both have insisted it was much more than a "sordid office affair".

Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley pose in the winners room at the National Television Awards 2020 (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Of the start of their romance, Richard has recalled: "[Colleagues at Granada] thought it was frivolous but it wasn't anything of the kind. It was actually very painful because we were very much in love but it was very difficult."

Judy called things off, fearing he wasn't ready to be a step-father to her then six-year-old twins Dan and Tom from her first marriage to journalist David Henshaw. A heartbroken Richard retreated to Greece for two weeks in the summer of 1984 to do some soul searching, armed with a bag of step-parenting books

After a year Judy decided she wanted to be with Richard - but soon they faced tragedy together. Judy became pregnant but had a miscarriage and she was forced to deliver their child.

Richard opened up about their loss in Channel 4 documentary Child of Mine, explaining that they had a routine scan at 16 weeks and found out the devastating news. He recalled: "It was utterly devastating: no warning; no earlier, gentle, indication of the possibility of catastrophe. Our baby had just died. And he was still in Judy's womb."

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In 1986 Richard and Judy welcomed Jack, now 36, and then, just as she was about to return from maternity leave, she found out she was expecting Chloe, 35.

In 1988 they took up a job on a show that would change their lives forever - ITV's This Morning.

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