ZapGossip

Richard Madeley suffered childhood beatings

Richard Madeley was "badly beaten" by his father when he was a child.
The 63-year-old presenter also spoke about being subjected to corporal punishment while at school and admitted he’s "still angry" about it, decades later.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’ during a debate about smacking children, he said: "I was badly beaten as a child by my dad.
"When I look back to my childhood, most of my friends, I got the cane several times.
"And I was seriously beaten…
"I got three strokes at (school) for throwing a paper dart.
"The scars lasted six months and I am still angry about it."
The show’s viewers poll showed 63 per cent of people agreed that smacking children is acceptable, but Richard doesn’t think it’s a statistic that will last.
He told his co-host Ranvir Singh: "I tell you what Ranvir, I bet you the yeses go down in ten years’ time.
"I think that’s the path we’re on. That’s why we’re having the debate now."
Guest Sarah Cawood candidly admitted she had "walloped" her own children and it’s something she now regrets.
She said: "I walloped my kids in the depths of post natal depression and I regret that.
"I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I apologised to my kids and said to them ‘That was wrong of mummy.
"I have a teenager that the two year year olds used to set off for some reason."
The debate was sparked following Martin Freeman’s admission over the weekend that he had smacked his kids – Joe, 14, and Grace, 11, who he has with former partner Amanda Abbington – but wasn’t "proud" of his actions.
He confessed: "I have smacked my kids. When they were very young. I smacked my kids, yes. And it’s not like a victory. It’s not, ‘Oh, I must be doing something right!’ But I have done it.
"When it is route one to something they need to understand and I cannot rationalise with them. Also I was impatient and at the end of my rope."