Richard Madeley has spoken out against media celebrities who believe they are superior than others because of their employment.
The broadcaster, who co-hosted This Morning with wife Judy Finnigan for 13 years and has worked on Good Morning Britain since 2017, has criticised TV personalities who grow big heads.
When asked about his grievances with people he’s met over the years, the 67-year-old claimed celebrity has led some to believe they were more important than others.
‘There are a lot of people on television who get it in their minds,’ he remarked.
‘We’ve all met them. And you can tell that they believe that having access to people’s living rooms via television makes them better.
‘And I simply think that makes them seem silly,’ he continued, recalling how, as a reporter at Border Television in 1978, he first realised how self-important certain hosts were.
‘Quite quickly I formed a contempt for people on television who thinks that it makes them in any way, shape or form special,’ he told Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast.
‘Because it doesn’t. Just because you can read the autocue or learn a short piece to camera out in the field.
‘Why would you think that would make you any better than anyone else?’
In the interview, Richard also spoke about instances of run-ins with viewers, explaining how he ‘only had to puff or sneeze to get extraordinary abuse on social media’.
He described one incident in which he was challenged by an unhappy person while on vacation in Cornwall.
‘He came right into my space, finger jabbing at my chest and he said, “I just want you to know that everything you’ve ever done, everything you’ve ever said or will say, I loathe and f***ing despise, you c***”,’ he said.
Richard, on the other hand, stated he just ‘came out laughing’ and didn’t take it seriously.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
