Richard Madeley speaks out on shoplifting scandal for the first time in years

TV presenter Richard Madeley has a reputation for his Partridge-esque slip ups on the air, but one mistake put him in hot water with the law nearly three decades ago.

The veteran journalist has finally spoken out about a scandal that he claims would have seen him 'cancelled' if Twitter had been around.

And the controversy in question?

That would be his 1994 arrest for walking out of Tesco with bottles of booze that he'd forgotten to pay for.

This came at a time of high publicity for Madeley as he was presenting This Morning alongside his wife Judy Finnigan.

Reflecting on the incident, the 67-year-old recently told The Sun: "Thank god Twitter wasn't around then.

"But the whole thing was so self-evidently b****cks, that my not paying was an oversight. It was leaked by someone at Tesco.

"At the time though I thought, ‘Well, of course it’s going to be OK because otherwise the world’s gone mad’."

Thankfully, Madeley's faith paid off and he was kept on at his TV gig.

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He said: "I never felt I was going to get cancelled; Granada Television were fantastic. And the Monday after they found out, and knew the facts of the case and knew it was rubbish, they told me not to worry. We carried on as normal.

"I went to crown court, my lawyer told me to get in front of a jury so people could see it was an obvious oversight. So that’s what I did.

"And I was absolutely acquitted. But I told viewers about it."

His wife even had to face the cameras alone whilst he was going through the case, however.

Madeley recalled: "Judy had to open This Morning on her own while I was in court for two minutes, then I’d get in my car and drive from Manchester to Liverpool, rock up, walk on the set while she was mid-interview, and sit down and join in. It was surreal.

"After the trial, it was as if it had never happened. I’ve never really spoken about it because as I said at the start of this interview, when you’re on camera you’re only one sentence away, and you can so easily get it wrong."

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Since being acquitted of the charges, Madeley has gone on to have a successful career in daytime television.

In the interview, Madeley also expressed his sympathies for Phillip Schofield, who was forced to step down from his hosting role at This Morning after his affair with a younger colleague was revealed.

Madeley said: "I feel very sorry for Phillip. It seemed a pretty savage outcome after 21 years (in the job). It seemed quite brutal to be honest.

"I took a paternal interest in it. I kept in touch, told him to take it easy and that it’ll be all right.

"He agreed. All things pass in the end. We’ve all been through terrible experiences and the worst ones are the ones that come out of a clear blue sky and you don’t see coming.

"Politicians say they’re only one debate away from a catastrophe and it’s the same in our industry."