Richard & Judy on family life, how they first met, and encouraging the next generation of talent

In the first of a two part spectacular, Kate chats to UK TV royalty Richard & Judy about rising up through the ranks as broadcasters and journalists, how they first met, and how good it feels to encourage the next generation of talent.

White Wine Question Time with Kate Thornton is the podcast that brings together well-known guests to answer three thought-provoking questions over three glasses of wine. Discover the friendships behind the entertainment headlines, and listen in on their conversations for a side to the celebrities you've never heard before. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow on Instagram (@whitewineqt) & Twitter (@WhiteWineQT) to keep up to date with the latest guests, news and more.

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RICHARD MADELEY: And if you encourage the team, whether it's the young runner that makes the tea for you when you get in at 5:00 in the morning or whether it's your new deputy editor. If you encourage them and work with them, then you get-- everybody gets a better result. It's as simple as that, isn't it?

JUDY FINNIGAN: One of the really, sort of, gratifying things is that you can always spot the good ones. You really you. You can always spot, virtually from their first day, if they're going to be-- do really well. And it's a quality-- it doesn't really-- it's certainly intelligence. That's really important, intelligence. But it's also a kind of quality of enthusiasm and an openness.

I do remember walking-- him walking into the newsroom. He was wearing-- it was May, wasn't it?

RICHARD MADELEY: Yes.

JUDY FINNIGAN: May?

RICHARD MADELEY: It was May, yeah.

JUDY FINNIGAN: It was May, and he was wearing a really pale blue suit, sort of like ice blue.

KATE THORNTON: Sharp.

RICHARD MADELEY: And I thought, oh, god. He-- I thought-- no, I thought, oh, god. He thinks a lot of himself, doesn't he?

[LAUGHTER]

RICHARD MADELEY: We had the news conference, talked about what was going to go in that night's program. Then I was shown to my desk, and I sat down. And the next thing, as I was getting my, sort of, biros lined up in parallel, and my reporter's notebook, and my typewriter--

KATE THORNTON: [LAUGHS]

RICHARD MADELEY: --all over the place. I felt two hands simultaneously land on my shoulders behind me. These two hands slap on my shoulders, and I jumped. I turn around, and it was Judy, with both her hands on both my shoulders. And she said, I'm your mommy.

JUDY FINNIGAN: We have no idea. We're certainly not trying for another baby. When she was conceived, came completely out of the blue. And she was only a year-- she's only a year younger than Jack, so it was really close together. And I can't say I was best pleased at the idea of going through it all again. But as soon as I discovered she was a girl, I was absolutely thrilled to bits.

RICHARD MADELEY: I remember hearing the phone ringing in the hall downstairs and hearing Judy having this muted conversation. And then I actually heard the phone being slammed down. And I thought, oh, god, this is bad news. And then I heard Judy running up the stairs. [IMITATING FOOTSTEPS] And then the door-- the bedroom door bursting open. And she stood there in her dressing gown, hair awry. You know, 9 o'clock, Saturday morning. She said, I'm having a girl!

JUDY FINNIGAN: [LAUGHS]

RICHARD MADELEY: We're having a girl!

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