02 May 2024 , 15:51
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Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are one of showbiz's strongest couples and remain 'soulmates' despite some very rocky times.
The journalist duo first met at work in 1982 and now have 37 years of wedded wisdom under their belt. Good Morning Britain host Richard started dating TV presenter Judy while she was in another relationship and had two young sons. But their love affair lasted the test of time.
Earlier this week, the couple appeared as loved up as ever when they celebrated their anniversary with a lunch date in Hampstead, London. Richard, 67, and Judy, 75, were papped holding hands and interacting fondly, showing clear signs they are 'still soulmates', according to a body language expert.
Judy left her ex-husband for Richard (ITV)Behavioural expert Darren Stanton revealed that the celeb couple appear "very much together" and the intimacy of their handhold is the kind you "tend to see in new relationships" and shows the ongoing strength of their bond.
Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie, Darren said: "They're celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary, and for them to be displaying what we call 'reciprocal liking', at this point in their relationship is really significant. You don't tend to see many relationships, with this many miles on the clock, displaying these sorts of gestures."
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He added: "Even though they're a powerful, former media couple, they're still very happy to be seen out and about together. They're not adverse to displaying affection in public, which many celebrity couples are."
They first met in the '80s when Richard joined Granada to present alongside Tony Wilson and Judy, who at eight years his senior, was the more experienced journalist. She previously told the Mirror: "I remember the first time I saw him. He walked into the newsroom and I was sitting at my desk at the other end.
"I remember exactly what he was wearing: a pale blue linen suit. I thought he looked nice. Tall, handsome and all that but I thought the suit was a bit flash. Then, because he was a newbie, I was assigned the job of looking after him."
Richard, who already had a crush on Judy after watching her on TV, revealed: "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'." The attraction was obvious, but both were married - Judy to journalist David Henshaw and Richard to his first wife Lynda.
Judy had two young sons with David Henshaw at the time (Daily Mirror)One night they went out for dinner and their relationship began, although both have insisted it was much more than a "sordid office affair". "[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," Richard recalled.
From their third date he knew he wanted to marry Judy, but at 26, she feared he wasn't ready to be a step-father to her then six-year-old twins Dan and Tom. "I had to be absolutely convinced that Richard was mature enough and sure enough of his own mind that my boys weren't going to be hurt," she said. "When we first got together I remember my mother said to him, 'If you hurt those boys I'll never forgive you'."
Judy, then 34, called things off, prompting a devastated Richard to retreat to Greece for two weeks in the summer of 1984 armed with a bag of step-parenting books to do some soul searching. "I knew Dan and Tom really well and they were smashing, they were terribly sweet, so I took it very seriously. In the end I knew of course that I could do it – I wanted to do it," he said.
It took Judy a year to make her mind up, though. Speaking about her marriage to David, Judy said the cracks had already been forming before she met Richard. "There were lots of problems, but without Richard we'd have probably struggled on for a few more years and broken up when the kids were older. He didn't spend much time in the marital home and he didn't want more children, which I did," she once told the Daily Mail.
"He was a workaholic, as he admits, and when he was away from the family he was completely happy, whereas I was lonely and depressed and resentful and all sorts of things. It wasn't what I wanted out of life. I wanted a proper partner. I was very much in love with Richard and I wanted to be with him and have more children with him. But I had to find the courage to leave David and it took me a year."
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Richard was over the moon when she finally made her choice - and it was him. The first thing they did as a couple was take the twins to Cornwall for a week, with the county becoming so special to them that they would end up living there years later. But sadly their bliss soon turned to tragedy when Judy suffered a miscarriage followed by the birth of a stillborn son.
The couple tied the knot and grew their familyTheir boy Jack, now 38, came along in 1986 after a difficult pregnancy, and just as Judy was about to return from maternity leave, she found out she was expecting daughter Chloe, 36. A hormonal imbalance then sparked post-natal depression, and would become so severe that she was forced to have a hysterectomy in 1998 - something she feared would destroy her famous sexual bond with Richard.
In fact, the hormone replacement therapy she was put on did quite the opposite, so much so that they had to sleep in separate beds while she healed from the surgery.
Their relationship has stood the test of time (ITV)Speaking to the Mirror, Richard previously said: "I think relationships can evolve to a point in old age where sex becomes less important - but I am 58, not 98. In most dynamic marriages, sex is a very important component. You can deny that at your peril.
"One of the reasons that most marriages fail is because there is a growing sexual incompatibility. It has to be an important part of the equation. Research shows most happily married people in their 70s and 80s still have a functioning sex life and so they should. It's one of the most fundamental aspects of humanity."
Both admit theirs is a 'jealous, passionate' relationship, but despite having cheated on first wife Lynda 10 times in five years, Richard has stayed completely true to Judy. "Judy is my heart," Richard once said of his wife. "If she wasn't here it would remove all the point to my life."
And Judy believes Richard really is the chips to her gravy. "If any two people were meant for each other, we were, and I adore him. He's so good for me emotionally because I tend to be melancholic," she told the Daily Mail. "He's very optimistic, he boosts my ego and he's got a great talent for happiness, which means the inevitable sadnesses in life, which we all have, are easier to cope with. If there is a positive emotion to be had in any situation, Richard will find it."