Richard Madeley addressed his health fears and shared a tragic moment which forced the Good Morning Britain presenter to make a huge change.
Richard Madeley opened up about a heartbreaking loss as the columnist shared a family struggle.
The Good Morning Britain presenter spoke candidly with his ITV colleague Dr Hilary Jones about his health journey and a major turning point during adulthood that sparked a huge change.
The on-screen broadcaster, 68, suffered a “brutal loss” when his dad suddenly died at 49.
Richard revealed his father, uncle and grandfather all suffered the same fate as he shared the real reason behind his decision to quit smoking.
“I think what gave my grandfather, father and uncle – their heart attacks… the one that killed my father was that they were heavy smokers,” he explained.
“My dad at one stage was on two packs a day. He died at 49. He came home from lunch – he was a press officer at the Ford motor company in Essex – he lived very close to the office.”
Richard added: “It was a few minutes drive so he would often come home for lunch with my mother and he came home one day.”
The GMB host explained he had been abroad with his first wife Lynda Hooley and had seen his dad just two days before their getaway.
He went on: “It was the week I was off on my honeymoon during my first marriage. I had only seen him two days before. He seemed perfectly fit and well.
“He came home saying he felt very strange and a couple of minutes later he collapsed into my mum’s arms and another minute later he died. It was that brutal.”
Speaking on the Dr Hilary Show, Richard said it was not until his 40th birthday that he decided to give up smoking altogether.
“Although I smoked in my 20s and 30s I made a determined effort to stop when I turned 40,” he commented.
Despite some trial and error, Richard was able to give up smoking shortly after he turned 40, when he and his now wife Judy Finnigan interviewed Nigella Lawson’s late husband John Diamond, who sadly died after a battle with oral cancer.
Richard recalled it was on that day he walked back to his dressing room and flushed the remainder of his cigarette packet down the toilet.
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Source: Los Angeles Times1
