Richard Madeley has revealed he is now deaf in one ear after contracting a nasty new strain of Covid.
The broadcaster, 67, revealed that the variant has left him with a perforated eardrum, compared to having ‘a cork in his right ear’.
Speak with The sunRichard added that doctors have assured him that his ear will heal within a few weeks, but he still struggles to hear in busy areas or in large crowds.
He said: ‘Funnily enough, doing GMB, which I was a bit worried about, actually allows me to hear better, because I wear my studio earpiece in that ear and I can turn the volume up to the maximum: it seems a bit on having a hearing aid I suppose.
‘I’ll just have to be patient – my ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor says it takes a few weeks for perforated eardrums to heal themselves. So there will be a lot of ‘excuse me?’ between now and Christmas. and what?’ come from me.’
Revelation: Richard Madeley has revealed he is now deaf in one ear after contracting nasty new strain of Covid
Richard will appear in his daughter Chloe’s ITVBe fly-on-the-wall documentary, which follows the fitness guru as he adjusts to her first year of motherhood.
The film, which airs on October 9, focuses on Chloe and her husband James Haskell as they adjust to life as new parents to their daughter Bodhi, while Richard and Judy Finnigan will make brief appearances.
In the interview, the pair also reflected on the controversy they have faced in the past, with Richard recalling the time he was caught shoplifting in 1994, when he was still a presenter on This Morning.
He said: ‘Thank God Twitter didn’t exist back then. But the whole thing was so obvious that not paying was a mistake.’
Richard added that he appeared in court and was soon cleared of the charges, adding that This Morning bosses supported him and he continued hosting the show as if nothing had happened.
In the interview, the Good Morning Britain star admitted that Phillip Schofield’s recent departure from This Morning was ‘quite savage’ and ‘brutal’.
During a recent appearance of Loose Women & Men, Richard had to rate himself on various aspects of dating, including how good they are in the bedroom.
Richard, who has been married to Judy Finnigan for 37 years, said: ‘I have to say I’ve passed on how good you are in bed, there’s no way I’m going to judge that on national television, but you’ve all replied. ‘
Painful: The broadcaster revealed the variant left him with a perforated eardrum, compared to having ‘a cork in his right ear’
On the mend: Richard (pictured with his GMB co-host Susanna Reid) said using an earpiece during filming helped with his hearing
Elsewhere on the show, Richard was dubbed the pregnancy whisperer as he revealed his hidden talent.
He confessed: ‘I can really tell very early when someone is pregnant. I remember one time I was in a restaurant and Gaby Roslin walked in.
“And she had just gone on a big diet and it was all over the papers. She had lost a lot of weight and came in with her mother and two friends. They sat down, she was stick thin.
‘I went to the table just like you, ‘hello, how are you?’. I was having a chat and suddenly heard myself say: “Gaby, are you pregnant?” And she looked at me and said, “Thank you so much, I just lost a lot of weight.”
‘I said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” I don’t know why I said that, but we laughed and I went back to the table.
‘But that evening around six o’clock the phone rang and it was Gaby. She said, “You witch, I’m pregnant. I only found out this morning and I had weed on a stick. How did you know?” I said I don’t know, I just knew.’
