A former This Morning star opened up about their time working with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
Jaci Stephen spent seven years on the ITV programme, in roles including soap critic and film critic.
Married couple Richard, 69, and Judy, 77, were the show’s original presenters from 1988 to 2001.
They subsequently went on to front their own show, Richard & Judy, from 2001 to 2008.
Discussing her experience working with the pair, Jaci wrote for The i: ‘I worked with Richard and Judy and a more impressive pair of consummate professionals would be hard to find.
‘Richard comes in for a lot of stick, but I learnt a lot from both him and Judy.
A former staff member on This Morning opened up about her time working alongside Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan
The married couple were This Morning’s original presenters, from the show’s launch in 1988 up until 2001
Jaci Stephen formerly worked on This Morning, where she carried out roles including soap critic and film critic
‘Not only were they wonderful presenters, they were sharp journalists who also had the populist Midas touch – tapping into the heartfelt sensibilities of viewers.’
She added: ‘The problem is the show continues to try to recreate that template, which, to me, it has consistently failed to do.’
Discussing the show’s current team, Jaci said: ‘The show has reportedly reached a “landmark low” since Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley took over, falling from one million to under half.
‘I happen to like both of these presenters enormously (Ben’s Tipping Point is my daily fix), but I feel they are just too well known for other programmes for viewers to be able to adapt to the warm, fuzzy feel the show keeps trying to reinforce.’
Ben, 51, and Cat, 49, joined the programme to replace long-time presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
Schofield left This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague.
Meanwhile, Willoughby announced in October 2023 that she would ‘not be returning to the show’, having first joined in 2009.
More recently, Richard has been part of the Good Morning Britain team since joining back in 2017.
In a recent episode, he squirmed and quipped ‘men cannot win!’ as he paid Lorraine Kelly a compliment – and it didn’t land.
Towards the end of the instalment, Lorraine, 66, let Richard and Susanna Reid, 55, know what to expect on her programme.
Richard asked her: ‘Lorraine, this is my first on this week, have you changed your hairstyle? It looks really nice.’
Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley took over as This Morning’s latest main presenters beginning in 2024
As of 2017, Richard has been appearing as a relief presenter on another ITV staple: Good Morning Britain
A shocked Susanna turned to him and said: ‘It always looks nice!’
Lorraine joked: ‘Oh thank you very much. I just washed it!’
Stressing over what Susanna said, Richard added: ‘It always looks nice, but it looks different and nice! Am I right or wrong?’
Lorraine told him: ‘No you’re very, very right. Always. Yes. Thank you.’
Richard told her: ‘It suits you.’
He then turned to Susanna and told her: ‘I wasn’t criticising her suit.’
A confused Susanna clapped back: ‘Her suit?! You’re calling her, her suit?!’
‘Men cannot win!’ Richard told them both. ‘You pay a compliment, back at you.’
Lorraine told him: ‘Stop digging. Stop digging.’
