Working with Richard Madeley is like trying to nail down a grasshopper – I love it, says GMB’s Richard Arnold
GOOD Morning Britain’s Richard Arnold has likened working with Richard Madeley to trying to catch a grasshopper.
The programme’s showbiz editor, 52, is loving the addition of Richard, 65, as a regular presenter even if conversations often take an unpredictable turn.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun from The Ideal Home Show, he said: “With his train of thought, sometimes it is like trying to nail down a grasshopper. You don’t know where it’s going to land.
“And I love that, because for me it’s all about the live and DJing that banter altogether. I mean we’re all a safe pair of hands and we know if we throw the ball to each other we’ll catch it.
“Richard’s been a very spirited member of the team since he joined the regular rotation of presenters, so I do enjoy working with him. He’s a great guy.”
Often likened to Steve Coogan’s fictional broadcaster Alan Partridge due to his outspoken takes and on-air gaffes, Richard famously suffered a fake tan fail early into his GMB tenure.
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Mistaking fake tan for moisturiser at home before arriving at the studio one morning, viewers watched in hysterics as his skin tone got darker and darker as the show progressed.
It was a highlight for his colleague Richard, who joked by the end of the show Madeley was looking like perma-tanned Hollywood icon George Hamilton.
He said: “My favourite moment was when he faked tanned and got darker and darker through the course of the show, I think even he was alarmed. Shades of Richard Madeley for everyone.
“The wonderful thing about Richard, he embraces it all, as we all do, particularly in this day and age of clickbait; if Susanna as much as breaks a fingernail you can guarantee the Twittersphere will light up within moments.”
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Their time working together is particularly important for Arnold, who idolised the broadcaster as a student.
“When I was a student way back in the day I used to watch Richard and Judy as a student,” he said. “I sent off for a signed picture of the pair of them. It’s odd finding yourself working with someone you’ve grown up watching.”
On Friday Richard returned to The Ideal Home Show inside London’s Olympia for the first time in years.
As well as bringing back memories of the time he had to strip off and broadcast in a hot tub at the event, it gave Richard the chance to collect inspiration for his own home.
He said: “It is the property porn element. It’s fantasising about your ideal home.”
During the lockdowns Richard made use of his garden shed, turning it into Dicky’s Den and presenting to the nation on GMB.
” I’m very keen on those outdoor offices and man caves if you like,” he said. “They’ve moved on apace from my chalet I’ve inherited when I bought the house. Those spaces have become all the more necessary recently.”
The 114th Ideal Home Show is packed full of quirky features from the Conker House that was featured on George Clark’s Amazing Spaces to the world’s most technologically advanced home dubbed The Future House.
Richard said: “There’s this extraordinary set up of spherical conkers, they are sort of spaces you go into, it reminds me of the Hobbit houses in the Shire, it’s fascinating. The whole future living thing I’m always fascinated by.
“I’m shocking at DIY. I wouldn’t say my house is bang up to date. For me, it’s aspirational. I struggle to dust a skirting board. Futuristic, aspirational and a cheeky little nostalgia trip as well.”
The Ideal Home Show, in partnership with NatWest, the world’s longest running exhibition, is back today today at Olympia London until Sunday 27th March 2022. A host of experts and celebrities will be hosting Q&As on stage throughout the 17 days at the show. For more information and tickets, please visit idealhomeshow.co.uk