It's been 23 years since they shocked This Morning fans by stepping down from presenting duties.

But, viewers had to do a double take when they tuned into the ITV daytime show on Wednesday, as Richard Madeley was back on the sofa.

In a role reversal, the broadcaster, 68, was a guest rather than a presenter, promoting his forthcoming novel and being interviewed by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.

But, opening his segment, Madeley - who presented the magazine show with wife Judy Finnigan from 1988-2001 - was seen sitting next to Deeley, 47, while the old theme tune and credits played, giving viewers a blast from the past.

‘Hi, welcome back to your Wednesday's This Morning with me Richard Madeley and Cat Deeley here,' he said. ‘A lot more coming up for you on the programme today - how's your morning been so far?'




This Morning viewers had to do a double take when they tuned into the ITV daytime show on Wednesday, as Richard Madeley was back on the sofa alongside new host Cat Deeley 






In a role reversal, the broadcaster was a guest rather than a presenter, promoting his forthcoming novel and being interviewed by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard





After opening the show with Cat, he was interrupted by current host Ben Shephard, who said: ‘Excuse me. Madeley, go on - other side of the sofa' 







He was then interrupted by current host Shephard, who said: ‘Excuse me. Madeley, go on - other side of the sofa.'

'Don't spend so long in the loo then,' Madeley joked before moving across to the guest sofa and letting Shephard, 49, take his seat.

Reflecting on his years on the show, Madeley admitted that some segments including a live Viagra trial and a live grizzly bear wouldn't be allowed today.

‘He went for me. It was a grizzly bear. We must've been mad. So much of what we used to do on This Morning - like the live Viagra test for example - you just wouldn't do today,' he said.

‘You'd have Ofcom down your neck. But a live grizzly bear in the studio? Insane.'

He said of the show's longevity: ‘When we launched it in October ‘88, there was a lot of jealousy [from others] who had pitched for the show and hadn't got it, and Granada had got it.

‘And so there was a kind of consensus that it would be off air by Christmas, but ITV gave it one year. In 1988 there wasn't television like it.

‘We went to America and we looked at American daytime shows which have been running for about 20 years. We took a lot of inspiration from them.




Reflecting on his years on the show, Madeley admitted that some segments including a live Viagra trial and a live grizzly bear wouldn't be allowed today 





'It was a grizzly bear. We must've been mad. So much of what we used to do on This Morning - like the live Viagra test for example - you just wouldn't do today,' he said





Madeley was there to discuss his dark new novel Father's Day, about a man who seeks revenge on his daughter's online abuser' 

‘We piloted it and then we went on air and we were confident that we had a format that would last and look, it's still going.'

Madeley, who now frequently appears as a relief presenter on Good Morning Britain, was there to discuss his dark new novel Father's Day, about a man who seeks revenge on his daughter's online abuser.‘

[It's about] the power of revenge. What would a father do?' he said.‘What would you do if it was your daughter who had been cajoled into killing herself? Taking her own life. What would you do to the man responsible?'

Shephard joked: ‘See, you come across as such a lovely, affable, easy-going guy but there's a dark, sinister side to Madeley.'

Madeley and his wife were the golden couple of daytime television in the 1990s and left This Morning at the height of their popularity to host Richard and Judy on Channel 4.

They admitted part of their reason for leaving ITV was due to creative differences with the channel's incoming head of daytime Maureen Duffy.




Madeley now co-hosts breakfast show Good Morning Britain alongside Susanna Reid 





Madeley was back in familiar territory while visiting the This Morning studio on Wednesday  





He became a household name on the show alongside wife and former co-host Judy Finnigan 

They said they found it ‘very difficult to cope with' internal politics at the channel and 센트립구매 weren't happy with Duffy's desire to make the show more lightweight.

‘There were never any personal bust-ups between Maureen Duffy and us,' said Madeley, shortly after they left.

'But there were significant professional disagreements between our programme team and the new boss, 비닉스 파는곳 and we backed the team.'

Finnigan, 75, said that the new team has wanted her to take on the more ‘caring' items directed at women, with her husband given the more ‘macho' human interest stories.

After they stepped down from the show, Fern Britton, 66, became the main host of the show, alongside Philip Schofield, 62. 

Britton was replaced by Holly Willoughby, 43, when she left in 2009.Schofield presented the show until he was forced to step down last year when it was revealed he'd an affair with a much younger co-worker.

Willoughby quit the show after 14 years last October after a murder and kidnap plot against her was uncovered by the police.

Madeley and Finnigan - who has largely stayed out of the spotlight in recent years- made a brief return to the This Morning sofa in 2019 to present a special episode.

‘I was going to say it's lovely to be back but it's actually weird,' he said at the time.







ITVThis MorningBen ShephardRichard Madeley