RICHARD Madeley has broken his silence on feud rumours with co-star Susanna Reid as he revealed his future on the show.
The TV favourite, 68, said it’s a “privilege” working with onscreen wife Susanna Reid, despite fans spotting “clues” that there is a secret feud.
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Richard Madeley has broken his silence on feud rumours with Susanna ReidCredit: Rex
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The broadcaster revealed the real reason he continues to workCredit: Rex
Richard, who became a permanent face on the ITV morning show in 2021, also addressed rumours that he’s set to retire.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Richard about his partnership with co-host Susanna “I think I’m really lucky to have been paired with Susanna.
“I think journalistically we’re very similar, we have a meeting every morning at 5 o’clock in her dressing room.
“Her, me and the producer of the day and we go through the running and that’s where we kind of put the final shape to the programme.
“It’s just a treat working with her, because she and I think in just the same way about how to sell a story, what the main point of the story is, how to deliver it on air – we’re very much on the same page and that’s great because it would be tiresome if we didn’t have the same outlook.
“I love working with her, she’s fantastic.”
Richard said he doesn’t mind the early mornings, as he praised the news programme for “giving him a chance to be a reporter again” – 36 years after he first appeared on our screens.
The broadcaster said he’s worked on some TV shows where he hasn’t been happy – but said GMB is a family and admitted he gets a “kick out of working” on the show and with the team.
“I wouldn’t get up at 4 in the f****** morning two weeks out of four, Monday to Thursday if I didn’t enjoy it,” he told us.
“I don’t need to do it.
“My career arc as it were, is behind me.
“I’ve had a really happy career and I could if I wanted to just potter about but I do GMB for two reasons – number one, I started out in news, I spent the first 20 years of my career in straight news in a newspapers, radio news rooms, TV news rooms, a little bit of work on ITN and then gradually moved into more features and now I’m back on news, a little bit of features as well and I love it.
“You see me as a TV presenter but I think I’m a reporter and that’s how I see myself, I’m a reporter.
“GMB gives me a chance to be a reporter again and it’s a great team. I’ve worked on some shows – This Morning was a great team and Richard and Judy on Channel 4, but I’ve worked on other programmes which I’ve not been as happy, but GMB is a really good team, it’s a really exciting team to work on.
“It’s a really professional focused team, it’s a privilege.
“I’m not just saying that, it’s a privilege working there, I get a real kick out of it.”
Over the years, some fans have taken to social media to suggest that there is some underlying tension between Richard and Susanna.
On previous occasions, viewers have noted Susanna’s facial expressions – saying it’s a sign of her true feelings for her co-host.
It comes after an incident last October, when Richard physically recoiled on-air as Susanna touched his shoulder.
RICHARD’S FUTURE ON GMB
Although Richard has had a career that has span nearly 40 years, he has no plans on retiring anytime soon.
Fans had previously been concerned the telly stalwart was set to leave the programme altogether after he spoke out about his recent illness.
Their fears escalated when he was absent this summer, with Kate Garraway telling viewers he was “poorly” as she explained his no-show.
But the journalist has told us that he is hopes to remain a permanent member of GMB for the next few years.
He said: “I have absolutely no future plans at all [to retire], I live very much in the moment.
“I am very happy to say on GMB as long as they want me.
“At some point I’m going to be too bloody old, I’m 68, at some stage either I will think or ITV will think maybe the times come.
“But hopefully that will be for a few years yet, because I don’t feel 68.”
It comes after Richard revealed that Martin Lewis would be filing in for him on Thursday’s episode.
As Good Morning Britain’s credits began to play out she revealed the show change and said: “GMB is back tomorrow.
“Martin Lewis is joining me from 6am.”
Recently, Richard told GMB viewers how he had suffered “two massive nose bleeds” – with the cause unexplained.
He also suffered a perforated eardrum, which led to temporary deafness in one ear, following a flight and was forced to “lip-red” GMB guests.
He previously told The Spectator: “Conducting interviews during my stints co-hosting Good Morning Britain became secret exercises in lip-reading.”
CAMP EXIT
It is not the first time Richard’s illness has been documented on TV.
The journalist quit his stint on reality TV series I’m A Celeb back in 2021 after he was rushed to hospital in the early hours of the morning.
It came after The Sun revealed he had been taken ill in-camp and seen to by doctors at 5am.
At the time, Richard took to Instagram to write: “Hello all! Richard here – firstly just to say that I’m absolutely FINE.
“I started to feel briefly unwell in the small hours of the morning and was taken to hospital as a precaution.
“By leaving the camp, I had consequently broken the Covid ‘bubble’ and as such I’ve had to leave the castle and all the wonderful celebs that remain in the camp.
“Obviously I’m gutted to be leaving so soon but the safety of all the campmates is the number one priority.”
HEALTH CHECKS
Meanwhile, Richard’s wife Judy recently admitted the pair are “constantly” monitoring themselves for signs of dementia.
He also told how the fear of the illness simply won’t go away.
Revealing his worries in The Guardian, he confessed: “Dementia frightens me in ways death doesn’t.
“These days forgetting things comes with a pang of panic.
“So far, I seem to have avoided it, but the worry won’t go away.”
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Some fans thought they had spotted a ‘secret feud’ between the co-hostsCredit: Rex
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The journalist was full of praise for his GMB co-starsCredit: Rex
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Richard has no plans to retire anytime soon and hopes to stay on GMB for years to comeCredit: Rex
