Richard Madeley has admitted he thinks he ‘suits’ being a presenter on Good Morning Britain after Piers Morgan‘s departure from the programme.
The TV presenter, 65, has been a stand-in presenter alongside Susanna Reid since 2017 and confirmed he will be back again next month.
Speaking to The Sun, Richard admitted he is unsure if he will take over permanently in the role, despite being named as one of the front-runners for the gig.
Contender: Richard Madeley has admitted he thinks he ‘suits’ being a presenter on Good Morning Britain after Piers Morgan’s departure from the programme
He said: ‘It’s a good show to do. It suits me and, yeah, I think I suit it. Whether I’m going to be asked to take over, I have no idea. I have had no approach at any level formally or informally. The phone hasn’t rung, I haven’t had a ping into my inbox.
‘The bookies have me down as the front-runner and there have been opinion polls where I’ve come out reasonably well, but there’s a huge difference between that and it being a reality.
‘I’ll go in, I’ll fill in, I’ll enjoy it and I hope they ask me back. But in terms of sitting in for Piers, it’s a completely open question.’
Richard admitted that he doesn’t have a career plan and has turned down a lot of work that sounded like ‘too much hard work’.
Gig: The TV presenter, 65, has been a stand-in presenter alongside Susanna Reid since 2017 and confirmed he will be back again next month (pictured together in 2018)
The broadcaster added that being offered the Good Morning Britain gig would have meant more to him when he was 40 as he feels he has nothing left to prove now.
Other names in the running for the job include Judge Rinder, Good Morning Britain’s Adil Ray and Ben Shephard and current fill-in presenter Alastair Campbell.
Richard reckons ITV bosses are taking their time before deciding on who Piers’ permanent replacement will be.
Elsewhere during the interview, Richard told how watching his mother battle dementia before her death in 2014 has motivated him to cut down on alcohol.
Departure: In March, Piers announced he had quit GMB after Alex Beresford, 40, challenged his comments about the Duchess of Sussex, 37, and her interview with Oprah Winfrey, 67
The star said cutting his alcohol consumption is one of the ways he plans to ward off the disease, although he admitted he and wife Judy Finnigan struggled to avoid having an extra glass of wine during lockdown.
Richard also dismissed suggestions he would ever get cosmetic surgery, admitting just the idea embarrasses him.
The host thinks television is ‘very unforgiving’ of extra weight so he was always conscious of not developing ‘middle-aged spread’.
Richard also had his say on internet trolls after his daughter Chloe, 33, was subjected to vile rape threats online back in 2014.
Richard said: ‘Whether I’m going to be asked to take over, I have no idea. I have had no approach at any level formally or informally. The phone hasn’t rung, I haven’t had a ping into my inbox’
The abuse occurred after Judy apologised for saying that footballer Ched Evans should be allowed to keep his playing career after his rape conviction in 2012, which was later quashed.
While Richard said he knows the hurtful comments come from ‘inadequate people’, they still cause ‘a great deal of harm’.
Richard and Judy have been critical of celebrities who fled to properties in the country or abroad during Britain’s Covid-19 lockdown.
The presenter admitted the couple were tempted to travel but stuck to the rules.
He added: ‘I’ll go in, I’ll fill in, I’ll enjoy it and I hope they ask me back. But in terms of sitting in for Piers, it’s a completely open question’ (pictured with wife Judy Finnigan)
It comes after Richard recently said he would be open to filling Piers’ seat on Good Morning Britain.
He told Metro: ‘If the phone went and they said, ‘Would you come in and talk?’ of course I would talk to them. It would be bonkers not to. But I very much like sitting in for people. I have all the fun and very little of the responsibility or flak.’
And while Piers is regularly seen going toe-to-toe with trolls on Twitter, Richard insists he ‘doesn’t give a f**k’ about what they’d say about him should he leave himself open to criticism by sharing his views on the show.
He said of the possibility of facing trolls: ‘I personally couldn’t give a f**k. Far too many younger presenters have been affected by Twitter and cowed by it.
Outspoke: Piers left the daytime show after he insisted he ‘didn’t believe a word’ of Meghan Markle’s account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism at the hands of the royal family
‘I remember when I started sitting in for Piers on Good Morning Britain, I’d have a look at Twitter after I’d done a programme and, yes, you get some nice comments but you also get horrendous abuse and, from time to time, death threats.’
In March, Piers announced he had quit GMB after Alex Beresford, 40, challenged his comments about Meghan Markle, 37, and her interview with Oprah Winfrey, 67.
The outspoken GMB host left the daytime show after he insisted he ‘didn’t believe a word’ of Meghan’s account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism at the hands of the royal family.
Piers then walked off set after a fierce debate with Alex, in which the weather presenter accused Piers of unfairly ‘trashing’ Meghan, and branded him ‘diabolical’.
Piers, who refused to apologise, later announced his resignation and tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their ‘hard work and dedication’ that led to them beating their main TV rival, BBC Breakfast.
Exit: Piers, who refused to apologise, later announced his resignation and tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their ‘hard work and dedication’