Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan shared one of the secrets to their long and happy marriage this week. Speaking to The Mirror, the couple revealed that they occasionally experience tense moments, but that taking time apart to indulge in a good book keeps them both in a pleasant mood! Richard said this gives them "space," admitting: "In all marriages, things can occasionally get tense, and you can get a bit snappy with each other, especially if you’re together 24/7." Judy added: "[Reading] is very relaxing and can completely remove you from any anxieties that you might be feeling, any worry about the future."
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Sharing what their current favourites were, Richard said: "Judy is re-reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I have been reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [by Edward Gibbon]." The couple is back on TV every night this week with a special lockdown edition of their book club which they are filming from their home. Called Keep Reading and Carry On, the programme has featured guests including Judge Rinder and The Great British Bake Off's Sandi Toksvig as well as authors such as Adam Kay, the former NHS doctor who wrote the best-selling memoir This Is Going to Hurt.
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Richard and Judy have been together for 34 years
Richard and Judy were best known for being the original presenters of This Morning before they launched their early evening talk show, which ran between 2001 and 2009. The show was home to their hugely popular book club, which continues online. The couple have been married for 34 years and at the weekend, Richard spoke out about the fact that their age gap means that Judy might be asked to stay home when the current lockdown is relaxed.
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The presenter said: "Because I am 63 that would mean Judy and I couldn’t go out together. It’s ludicrous… 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… It’s a non-starter."
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