Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley opens up about devastating grief after dad ‘died on the spot’

He was just 49 when he passed away

Good Morning Britain co-host Richard Madeley shared with viewers today how he grieved for his dad following his ‘unexpected’ death.

Richard, 69, lost his father in 1977, just days after the star married his first wife Lynda Hooley.

Richard recalled what a “huge shock” his dad’s passing had been, coming when Christopher Holt Madeley was only 49. Speaking with fellow presenter Susanna Reid in an emotional segment about loss during Thursday’s (June 12) Good Morning Britain, Richard also addressed how colleagues regarded him following Christopher’s funeral.

Richard Madeley opened up about losing his dad in a discussion with Susanna Reid on GMB today (Credit: YouTube)

Richard Madeley on grief for his late dad

Former This Morning presenter Richard said: “I remember when my father died. He died on the spot, had a heart attack when he was 49. Huge shock. I was a breakfast producer then, a radio producer.”

He died on the spot, had a heart attack when he was 49.

Richard went on to detail how someone he worked with didn’t enquire about his huge family loss.

He continued: “I remember I had a week off to come to terms with it. After the funeral, I went in [to work], and the guy that I worked with didn’t say a word. He didn’t say, ‘how are you’ or ‘what happened?’ He obviously felt it was best not to talk about it.”

However, Richard did not harbour any ill will towards his former colleague. But Richard did express how he hoped circumstances could have been different.

He added: “I don’t blame him for that. [But] he couldn’t have been more wrong. You want people to come up to you and talk to you. You need that trigger to talk.”

Richard Madeley said those that are grieving ‘need that trigger to talk’ (Credit: YouTube)

‘Dad just lost it’

Telly regular Richard has previously told how he would be beaten by his father when he was a child.

In an with The Guardian in 2008, Richard said he was probably hit on around 25 occasions within a year or two.

“The beatings varied in how long they went on for, but they never varied in the strength with which he delivered these blows, which was [bleep]ing hard,” Richard said at the time.

“But it was quite a thin stick, so it wasn’t going to break anything except the skin.”

He has also previously reflected on GMB: “Dad just lost it. He’d boil over, go out, get his [bleep]ing stick, come back in and hit me till he stopped feeling angry. I’m no psychiatrist, but I think he was expelling this poison that had seeped into his life. I was in the way and I got hit.”

The thrashings eventually stopped when Richard was about 10, and his mother apparently threatened to inform the police.

Richard has also hypothesised his dad may have been sexually abused during his school days.

“He never said that but there were some pointers along the way,” Richard claimed in 2022.