Madeley: 'My wife is ill, not drunk'

Richard Madeley has slammed reports suggesting that his wife Judy Finnigan is an alcoholic after recent pictures showed her with bleary eyes and struggling to walk.

The presenter said that Finnigan has damaged ligaments in both her knees and is recovering from two eye operations, which will leave her with impaired sight for the rest of the year.

Madeley told the Daily Mail that reports surrounding alcoholism were "deeply unpleasant" and said that he was helping his wife to walk due to her recent medical illness.

He said: "As a family, we are all very angry and upset about it, and almost at the end of our tether... It is ridiculous that such private matters should have to be divulged in order to quash lazy, stupid and cruel reports about my wife. She must be allowed to go about her normal family life without this kind of harassment."

Madeley added that although Finnigan is "exceptionally wise and forgiving", she has nearly had enough of the claims. "I certainly have. It has got to stop," he said.