The married stars have been feeling anxious about their wellbeing
Richard & Judy
After celebrating his 67th birthday last week, it seems Richard Madeley is starting to panic about his health as he gets older. The Good Morning Britain presenter spoke out about his biggest fear when it comes to ageing. ‘Dementia frightens me in ways death doesn’t,’ he admitted. ‘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.’
Richard – who has been married to Judy, 75, since 1986 – also explained that he was given a huge wake-up call when it came to a damaging habit. The star said, ‘I smoked 60 cigarettes a day through my 20s. For decades I failed to quit. That changed when Judy and I interviewed Nigella Lawson’s late husband, John Diamond, who was charting his slow death from smoking-induced throat and oral cancer. Afterwards, I flushed my B&Hs [cigarettes] down the toilet and haven’t touched one since.’
It’s not the first time Richard has been open about health worries. In the past, he has said that he would ‘want to meet it head-on’ should he ever be diagnosed with dementia. He added, ‘People of my generation are twitchy. We pounce on the slightest memory lapse or moment of forgetfulness and ask ourselves, “Is this it? Is this the start of something major?”’
While he may be nearing his 70s, Richard has had a telly renaissance in recent years, bagging big jobs like a regular slot on GMB alongside Susanna Reid and proving popular with audiences during his 2021 stint on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here! The latter, however, was cut short due to ill health. At the time, it was reported that the star was removed from the camp to visit hospital after falling ill. Later, he explained, ‘I think what happened to me was I got dehydrated… I was sitting there babbling, I was talking nonsense... I basically woke up, I didn’t know where I was, what was going on and I could hardly string a sentence together.’ Tests later showed he was fine, but he was unable to return due to COVID-19 rules.
HOSPITAL DRAMA
Richard – who shares grown-up children Jack and Chloe with Judy and is stepfather to her two sons, Tom and Dan, from a previous marriage – was also struck down with a month-long ‘superbug’ last Christmas. The star revealed, ‘Never had anything like it before. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a new strain of COVID going around. I took a test every week, it was always negative, but I can’t help thinking that’s wh
