TV host Richard Madeley won’t have any trouble dealing with I’m A Celebrity’s trademark rodents – because he’s used to working with them.
An old friend of his reckons the 65-year-old Good Morning Britain presenter will do well in Gwrych Castle after revealing how their former newsroom in London’s East End was riddled with mice.
“It was so bad, we had an exterminator come and do regular rounds,” says photographer Tony Bock who worked with then-trainee reporter Richard for two years as he cut his teeth on a local paper in the mid-70s.
“Richard had a lot of experience of squalid conditions. The East London Advertiser office was right next to the canal so there were mice everywhere.
“But regardless of it all, he’d come to work in a three-piece suit. He always liked to look the part.”
The budding journalists, who also worked with Tony’s reporter wife Lyn, formed a close friendship at the paper – and today, the couple share their treasured black and white pictures of the good times they all spent together.
Lyn says Richard – who let it slip that he had landed an I’m A Celeb contestant spot last month – was bright and friendly with a wicked sense of humour.
“He’ll be fine in I’m A Celebrity because he’s great at making friends,” she says. “He’s always been a mate, and was nice to everyone.
“He was good at his job, and loads of fun. He’s a news junkie, like me, so he’ll miss that while in the show.”
Tony doesn’t think Richard will have any trouble when it comes to managing squabbles among the 12 celebrities taking part.
He adds: “He’s a lovely man. At work, he was serious and determined but he always keeps a sense of humour.
“He had the gift of the gab and whatever he wanted to do, he would go out and get it done.”
But an ability to deal with rows might come in handy as Tony reckons Richard is likely to stir things up with campmates.
“He was always a fun person to be around but he did like winding people up,” he recalls.
“Given the right circumstances, he might do that. No one can tell Richard what to do.”
Lyn and Tony, who now live in Canada, say their pal could be good entertainment in other ways too.
In his East London days, he fancied himself as a guitarist and singer and did pub open mic nights – possibly inspired by having a desk previously used by Steve Harley, who found fame with his band Cockney Rebel .
Essex boy Richard was born in Romford and started his journalistic career at 16. He headed to East London soon after then moved to BBC Radio Carlisle before ending up at Granada TV in Manchester.
It was here that he met his future wife, Judy Finnigan. After stints on various regional shows, he and Judy presented ITV ’s flagship This Morning show from 1988 to 2001 before their Richard and Judy Channel 4 chat show.
Richard has also hosted Have I Got News For You and appeared on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories. But Tony and Lyn reckon his time in East London made him the man he is today.
Twice-married Richard showed a taste for the ladies in his formative years. Lyn said: “He was living in a dreary rented room in Stratford.
"He didn’t have a girlfriend but kept asking for tips on how to woo one. Richard would always ask me and Tony how we got together and whether I had any mates available.
“I told him the best way was to invite girls back to his flat for dinner.
"But he just looked at me and said, ‘Lyn… I can’t cook.’”
Richard soon refined his dating technique, marrying at 21 but divorcing five years later. He wed Judy, now 73, in 1986 and the couple have two children.
Lyn said: “Over the years, lots of people have told me different stories about him but I prefer to think about him like he was back then – someone who I’m glad I met and I have wonderful memories of. A good mate.”
