Richard Madeley, one half of presenting duo Richard and Judy, has admitted that he thinks his father was sexually abused during his time at boarding school as a teenager, which led him to hit Richard as a child.
The 65-year-old Good Morning Britain presenter said that his father, Christopher Holt Madeley, was “broken”, “f***ed up” and used to hit young Richard “five or six times a year” with a bamboo stick.
He opened up about his dad’s abusive nature to The Sunday Times Magazine: “That went on until I was about nine or 10 and he went a bit too far.
“He hit me too many times and my mother had a word and that was that. I just want to put that in context – I didn’t feel it was out of the ordinary, other boys got hit by their parents, but I didn’t like it.”
(Image: GETTY)
Richard went on to say that he “wished it hadn’t happened” and explained that his father’s actions were a result of his upbringing throughout boarding school.
The ITV presenter revealed a dark secret which he believes is the root of his dad’s behaviour, which began in his childhood.
He said that Christopher was a “very happy farmer’s boy” until his parents discovered that he had a girlfriend, which they “thought was the road to perdition”, a Christian ideology that someone is doomed for an eternal state or punishment and damnation.
(Image: BBC)
After the suspicions aroused, Richard’s grandparents “packed his father off to a ghastly place”, where he was “considered an outsider” because the “rest of the boys would have known one another since prep school”.
Richard said that the time his father spent at boarding school “f***ed him up” and made him “very unhappy” as he had been “betrayed by his parents”.
“I have a strong suspicion he was sexually abused in some way. He never said that but there were some pointers along the way,” he speculated.
(Image: ITV)
His father Christopher’s actions made their relationship strained and he died at a very early age.
Whilst Richard was on his honeymoon with his first wife, Christopher passed away.
Madeley spoke to his mother after his father’s death, who said that he had never managed to deal with his torment, and said that “it broke him”.
If you have been affected by this story, contact Rape Crisis England & Wales for free confidential support and information on 08088029999 or their website or 08088010302 if you’re calling from Scotland.
You can contact the Domestic and Sexual Abuse helpline on 0808 802 1414 if you are in Ireland.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
