Will the real Richard Madeley please stand up?
We’ve seen a hundred Timothee Chalamets in New York, we’ve had TV bad boy Danny Dyer in Soho Square, now it is the turn of Middle England hearthrob Richard Madeley to have his lookalike competition in the outskirts of Stockport.
Hundreds queued around the block to watch the attempted reincarnations of the Good Morning Britain iconoclast compete at the highest level and maybe confuse poor Judy at Alexandra Park in Edgeley on Sunday.
It started as a joke when a single poster offering themed prizes for the top three Good Morning Britain impersonators was stuck up in the suburbs of Stockport.
But it became reality when locals expressed so much interest the organiser, Mrs Jones’ realised she would have to go through with it.
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(Credits: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia)
One entrant said: ‘It was a laugh. The first prize was a giant inflatable champagne bottle, second prize was a selection of Richard & Judy books. But I don’t think anyone was in it for the winnings.’
After hours of deliberation, the winner was finally declared – congratulations Larry, a pug in an unmistakably wavy Richard wig.
Another entrant said on Reddit: ‘I didn’t even place. ITV Granada interviewed me though and I simply said the pug had more game than me.’
They added: ‘To all the people saying this should be an annual event, it’s happening next summer as well. I believe the names thrown about were Deirdre Barlow or Luke Littler.’
The real Richard Madeley reportedly faced the axe from Good Morning as ITV issued sweeping changes to its daytime programming.
The 69-year-old host has been a staple of the morning news show since 2017 alongside co-host Susanna Reid and was said to be receiving a lucrative £300k salary for the gig before this ‘bloodbath’.
On ITV Richard shared a candid insight into his 35-year marriage with fellow TV icon Judy.
Recounting moments of strain in his relationship, he said: ‘Well, I mean, sometimes, you’d have a row. And you’d get to work not talking. But the show was a cure.’
‘I mean, it wasn’t, like, false, you actually did genuinely have to come on and do the double act. You would find that within maybe 15, 20 minutes of going on air.’
‘You’d just forgotten all about it because you were both focusing on the job. And so it was a very good way of processing a row.’
