Richard Madeley claimed there was a “sexual element” to the “abuse” he suffered as a child.
During Tuesday’s instalment (March 26) of Good Morning Britain, the presenter and his co-host Susanna Reid spoke to abuse survivor Earl Spencer. The brother of the late Princess Diana recently claimed he was physically and sexually abused by staff at a prep school he attended in the 1970s.
The 59-year-old wrote in his memoir, A Very Private School, that he was molested by a female assistant matron at Maidwell Hall boarding school, where he was a pupil between 1972 and 1974. Telling the duo about his terrifying experiences, this prompted Richard, 67, to recall the abuse he suffered while at school.
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He explained: “It went on into the 1980s. I was regularly caned at school in the late 1960s and yes, there were sexual elements to it, undoubtedly.
(Image: ITV)
“It was real abuse.” A horrified Susanna added: “You are supposed to be protected by people because your parents aren’t there.”
Richard alleged that boarding schools and prep schools “attracted paedophiles because they were allowed to operate under the guise of a reputable establishment.” The TV star has been open about his traumatic experiences in the past, including a time when two teachers, who were having an affair, got “excited” over him getting caned.
(Image: ITV)
“There was some quasi-sexual thing going on,” he told The Telegraph. “Even at that age I could tell they were both a bit excited.”
He also claimed that another teacher would check if the boys weren’t wearing underwear by pulling their waistbands down as they played rugby. Richard said he felt that kind of behaviour today “would have people in prison for sexual assault.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Richard has also spoken about the regular beatings he received as a child at the hands of his father, Christopher Holt Madeley. He told The Sunday Times Magazine: “If I did something my dad deemed worthy of corporal punishment… probably about five or six times a year… he’d go to the shed. I can still hear the shed door scraping open – it filled me with fear.
“And he’d fetch a bamboo stick that he used to put runner beans on, and – not in a formal ‘bend over’ way – he would lay about me, four or five strokes, not at full strength but they hurt, from when I was quite small.” He revealed this kind of abuse continued until he was around nine or 10 before his mother “had a word”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
