Richard Madeley has admitted that his wife Judy Finnigan is "baffled" he is taking part in Channel 4 series The Circle.
The 63-year-old has turned down a slew of reality TV shows in the past, including I'm A Celebrity, but couldn't pass up the chance of being a catfish on the social media-based show.
Speaking about his family's reaction, he said: "Judy is completely baffled because she hasn't seen any of The Circle, and she wasn't aware of the concept of it. So, at first, she was really baffled.
"Like I said, normally I say no to most reality shows, things like Strictly and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and stuff. So she was a bit surprised as to why I said yes. Then when I explained it to her she kind of got it."
He added: "But Jack, my son and Chloe my daughter, were thrilled. They thought it was a really, really cool thing to do."
Richard won't be playing himself in The Circle and instead his profile will be decided by viewers at home voting on the app.
Revealing why he decided to take part in the reality TV show, he said: "I get asked to do all kinds of things all the time, and usually the answer is, 'No, thank you,' because it either sounds a bit boring, or I've kind of done it before. This is genuinely different.
"I was aware of the programme. I'd seen a little bit of the last series, and I read quite a lot about it. I was quite intrigued by it at the time and it got some very interesting write-ups. It's not your normal reality show. It's got quite a lot going for it intellectually as well as being a lot of fun.
"So, when they knocked on the door, straight away, I was quite intrigued. I wanted to know what they wanted me to do because it's not a celebrity show. My mission is to be an agent of mischief. I think I'm going to have certain tasks to do, but I don’t know what they are yet."
Asked how he feels about going into the show and knowingly misleading people, he said: "It's a game, isn't it? It's not real. An expression I've used so many times in my career, it's only television. It's not actually real life, it's just a game.
"It's just a game being played on television. So in that sense it's very much like a game of cards. It's like a game of happy families or poker or anything like that, where you're actually bluffing. It's a game of bluff. So I don't have any issues about that at all, because like I say, it's not real."
*The Circle airs tonight at 9.15pm on Channel 4
