Richard and Judy UNDER PRESSURE

She wants the calm country life, he likes the bright lights of London – Richard and Judy seem to be on different paths

After 35 years, theirs is one of the most solid marriages in showbusiness, surviving both the highs and lows of the spotlight, while remaining king and queen of daytime telly.

But now that Richard Madeley’s star is on the rise again, with his new role on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and his short stint on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity…, it would seem that his late-in-life renaissance has put him at a crossroads with wife Judy Finnigan.

Quiet and bookish away from the camera, Judy, 73, prefers life in the slow lane, focusing on her passion for writing and spending time with her family.

After more than 40 years at the helm in the cut-throat world of television, Judy recently revealed that her struggle with the side effects of the menopause made her lose her appetite for the public eye.

She said, ‘Menopause can be horrible – mine was and it affected my work badly.’ Judy also revealed that she got fed up with the flashbulbs, saying, ‘You get to the point where you just think, “I don’t want anything to do with it any more”.’

Richard and Judy, who have two children, Chloe, 34, and Jack, 35, together, as well as Judy’s older twin boys from a previous marriage, share a stunning £4 million detached mansion overlooking London’s Hampstead Heath, an area popular with celebrities and the media elite. But Judy is said to be keen to leave London behind and retire to their holiday home on the Cornish coast, which she cites as a ‘spiritual retreat’ where she loves to write her books and potter around chatting to the locals.