Madeley confesses to passion for 'chick lit'

TV presenter Richard Madeley has a secret passion for women’s books and “feminine, ditzy writing”, he admitted in a magazine interview.

The small screen star said he surprised himself by developing a taste for “chick-lit.”

He said: “I enjoy feminine, ditzy writing. No one could be more surprised than me because I’d always avoided reading those kind of books.”

Speaking to Woman’s Own, he and wife Judy Finnegan said their children Chloe and Jack are in no rush to leave home.

Finnegan said: “Contrary to reports, our Chloe hasn’t moved into a flat with her boyfriend. Obviously we both think its perfectly healthy that children leave the nest and live independently, but Chloe’s other half is still studying in Leeds, so she’s with us for the foreseeable future. Their dream is to rent a flat somewhere in London but until then it’s Hampstead. And I doubt Jack is keen to lay out vast sums of money in rent when he doesn’t need to.”

The former 'This Morning' presenters have dinner cooked for them most nights by their son.

Madeley said: “It’s hilarious. Normally it’s parents on the phone to their kids saying: ’When will you be home?’ With us it’s the other way round. Jack will have the dinner on and be on at us asking what time we’ll be back.”

The pair were recently axed from digital TV channel Watch, after gaining disappointing audience figures.

Madeley said: “We thought: 'If it fails, it fails’. You can’t succeed if you’re not prepared to take risks.

“We’re not sure what we’ll do next. No idea other than take a long break and think about it. We’re pretty relaxed about it, we’ve had lots of offers.

“Right now our feeling is: ’Hold on, let’s finish this and then get on with something else’. But we’ll never do a show on this scale together again.”

Finnegan also said that the couple would “love” to have grandchildren.