Richard and Judy 'knew nothing' of phone scandal
- Published: 23 August 2008 17:50
- Author: Jon Rogers
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- Last Updated: 26 August 2008 16:02
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Edinburgh 08: Husband and wife presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have spoken out about the TV fakery scandal that hit the You Say We Pay section of the C4 show.
In conversation with LBC presenter Nick Ferrari at the Edinburgh TV festival, the couple claimed they "knew nothing" about what was going on.
"It was very difficult for us,," said Madeley. "We were both executive producers on the show, our name was on the tin, so we had to take it on the chin. We were responsible for the show. But we knew nothing of what was going on further down the line."
Eckoh, the company behind the Richard and Judy quiz scandal, showed "reckless disregard for viewers" according to premium phone line watchdog Icstis when it handed down a record £150,000 fine in July 2007.
The presenters also confirmed that their popular book club will be moving to the new show they are to front on UKTV's forthcoming digital channel Watch.
Finnigan said: "We're so proud of the book club. We were astonished by how successful it was. People didn't switch off when it came on but carried on watching. People then went out to buy the book. The club will continue on our new show."
The top four books in the bestseller list are currently Richard and Judy endorsed titles.
The as-yet-unnamed show will air for an hour in a peaktime on Home when the channel launches.
Madeley also added that the exact format of the new show was still being worked on and hadn't been fixed yet.
Talking about making the move from Channel 4, which aired the last ever edition of The Richard and Judy Show on Friday, Madeley said that they had achieved everything they could on the show and it was time to call it a day.
"It was in a really competitive slot and it was tiring," he said. "And digital is the challenge of the moment for the television industry."
