RICHARD Madeley had quit drinking before going into the I’m A Celebrity castle.
The broadcaster, 65, was persuaded to clean up his act by fitness enthusiast daughter Chloe, who is known for her workout videos and athletic figure.
Richard shares Chloe, 34, and son Jack, 35, with wife his fellow TV presenter wife Judy Finnigan, 73, and he credited their daughter for helping him to kick unhealthy habits.
He said in 2018: “As I move into my sixties, she’s been fantastic at subtly steering me away from bad habits, mostly dietary. She showed me how much damage I was doing.
“Out with the bacon sarnies, sliced white bread, processed meats; in with wholemeal nuts, tons of fruit and lashings of olive oil.
He said: “I’m convinced it’s given me the mindset to stop drinking too (three months and counting).”
Richard – who was rushed to hospital last night after a “medical emergency” at the site of I’m A Celebrity – once revealed Judy almost died after vomiting a litre of blood, and it also convinced them to give up booze.
The broadcaster said that the decision to give up alcohol was directly linked to the serious scare over his wife Judy’s health in 2018, which also led her to quit booze.
He told HOAR: “She’d been taking Ibuprofen for sore knees and she had no clue that taking them on an empty stomach could seriously affect the stomach lining.”
One morning Richard looked on in horror as Judy woke up and vomited a litre of blood.
He said: “I dialled 999 and the ambulance arrived in about four minutes.
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“They had her on a drip and got her to the Royal Free in Hampstead and she had two blood transfusions.”
He added that she had surgery to remove four ulcers above the stomach lining including one in an artery which caused her to bleed out.
He said: “It was touch and f***ing go. While she was coming round from that, the surgeon said, ‘She’s going to be fine. Did you call the ambulance immediately?’
“I said, ‘Yes,’ and he said, ‘Good, because if you’d waited another 20 minutes she probably would have bled out.’ Half an hour tops and she would have died.”
Richard and Judy met while working on Granada TV.
They were both married at the time but later left their spouses and married in 1986, two years before they took up hosting jobs on This Morning.
While Richard continues to fill in on Good Morning Britain, he shows no sign of slowing down — vowing to “live until at least 100”.
