Judy Finnigans TV Absence Explained: Tight Leash!

Tanned, beaming with happiness and toasting each other with a glass of white wine, and his wife Judy Finnigan pose for a photo in a Mediterranean restaurant.

And for the couple’s fans, it was a rare public sighting of the double act who became national treasures in the 1990s after millions tuned in to watch them host ’s This Morning.

Despite Richard, who is, at 70, eight years younger than his wife, still being very much in demand by television bosses – he hosts ITV’s and recently fronted Inside The World’s Mega Prison on – Judy has almost completely retreated from public life.

Those commenting on the photograph were delighted to see her looking so well. But it was the couple’s four decades of marriage that prompted the most debate.

As one longstanding friend of Richard’s put it: ‘He’s quite handsome and he is also a famous celebrity still in his prime. A lot of men would have left and shacked up with a much younger woman by now. But the thought has never crossed his mind. There has never been any whiff of him doing anything bad when it comes to Judy.

‘He’s completely and utterly in love with her, as much today as he was when he first met her. When he talks about it his face glows – it was a life-changing moment and it’s one that has made him so happy.’

That day was 44 years ago when Richard walked into the Granada television newsroom in Manchester as a cub reporter dressed in what Judy later described as a ‘ridiculous sky-blue suit’.

Both married to other people – Judy already had two children – they clicked, and started a romance after divorcing their partners. They married in 1986 and, later that year, Jack was born, followed by Chloe a year later.

And their relationship helped their careers – two years on, they were plucked from regional news to front a new show, This Morning, after ITV bosses decided they wanted its hosts to be a married couple. 

They were an overnight success, hosting the show for 13 years. Viewers loved their genuine rapport, and the fact they overshared the more intimate details of their marriage, including Richard’s vasectomy.

They stepped down in 2001 when Channel 4 offered them their own show, Richard & Judy, which ran for seven years. But since then, Judy has barely been seen on screen apart from the odd appearance on Loose Women.

Some have unkindly speculated that ageism has played a role; and that Judy resents the fact that her husband is still working.

But others insist she is perfectly happy, and proud to see Richard’s TV career continuing – and add that it was her choice to take a back seat.

She has battled health issues, suffering a near-fatal ruptured stomach ulcer in 2018, which required two life-saving blood transfusions.

But even before that, she told this newspaper in 2013 that she had accepted Richard was more gregarious and admitted she had ‘never felt secure on television’. 

‘I don’t miss it at all,’ she said. ‘I didn’t like being in the limelight, and at times it felt as if I was on a treadmill. TV sucked the life out of me.’

Last week a close friend told me: ‘They have an agreement that as long as Richard is wanted on television, he will do it. He loves it and Judy has always been very supportive of his career.

‘She’s proud of him, and she still likes to help him prepare and gives him feedback. It’s very sweet. And as with many retired women, they like it that their men are out of the house and not under their feet.’ 

Crucially, I’m told, she also has Richard on a very tight leash so he has never been able to go gallivanting like some of his television comrades.

Judy replaced TV with books – penning several novels, including some set in Cornwall where the pair have a holiday home. And the couple still run their hugely popular Book Club, albeit now online.

Away from work, Judy is a doting grandmother to five grandchildren, including Chloe’s three-year-old daughter Bodhi from her relationship with former England rugby player James Haskell.

She regularly helps with childcare and a source says it’s a role she takes ‘very seriously’.

‘Judy loves it, she absolutely dotes on her grandchildren,’ says the friend. ‘She sees it as her vocation now, and the kids adore her. Richard is the more silly granddad.’ 

She also supported Chloe, 39, when she split from Haskell three years ago. ‘Judy knew what it is like to be in the public eye,’ says the friend. ‘So when Chloe had her awful split, it was Judy whom she turned to. She’s a wise lady.’

Those who know her say that Judy also has a ‘great sense of humour’ – which comes in handy when dealing with Richard.

Today, as one of Susanna Reid’s co-hosts on Good Morning Britain, his regular cringeworthy comments have seen him compared to Alan Partridge on social media.