Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley says criticism early in his career felt ‘painful’ but now believes it’s ‘fair comment’ if someone has a negative comment about him
Richard Madeley confessed “I hate them” as he made a blunt admission about fellow TV presenters. The Good Morning Britain presenter says he realised he was “bulletproof” from negative publicity early in his career.
He told Busted star Matt Willis that he believes presenters “shouldn’t take themselves seriously”. Although Richard, who began his television career at Granada Reports in the 1980s, admits criticism was “painful” when he started out.
Richard though says he now believes it’s “fair comment” when someone says something negative about him. It comes as he admits there are some presenters he “hates” for no reason.
Speaking on the On The Mend podcast, Richard said: “And you know, if there is a negative [comment], at first it’s quite painful. It takes a little while to get used to, but after a while, if somebody wants to say, I think Richard Madeley is a p***k, well, that’s called free speech and fair comment.
“I mean, there are presenters on television who I don’t know personally, but I see, and we’ve all got our sort of our hate figures that I see when they pop up, sitting at home, and I hate them. There’s no logical reason for it at all, but I think, ‘I can’t stand that so and so’ so I’ll turn over.
“If I’m allowed to think like that about a TV presenter, well then anyone’s allowed to think that way about me. So you mustn’t take yourself seriously.”
Richard recently made a personal confession on GMB when talking with commentators Kwasi Kwarteng and Ayesha Hazarika. The trio were discussing the news that 10 million points were added to driving licences last year.
Richard said: “I’m going to make a confession now, it’s not a big deal, but whatever.”
The presenter then revealed that he had six points on his driving licence, adding: “Both because of speed cameras. One for doing 34 mph on a dual carriageway at four thirty in the morning when it was a 30 mph [zone], I didn’t realise that.
“And one for doing 24 mph in a 20 mph zone at four thirty in the morning. And I have to say, I don’t mind being fined because, yes, I have broken the limit inadvertently, but to get three points on a licence, as well, seemed a bit harsh.
“I only say this because Co-op Insurance has done a survey and they’ve announced the results this morning. A surge in drivers has been caught by speed cameras, a huge, huge rise.”
The conversation left Richard wondering if we’re “over-penalising” drivers who commit “minor infractions”. Kwasi added: “My view on this is that those 20 mph speed limits are almost impossible. You’ve got to be very, very careful.”
Source: Mirror
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