Richard Madeley says a dark family secret led the ‘broken’ father to beat him mercilessly

GMB host Richard Madeley, 65, said his father remained “broken” and “fucked up”, which may have prompted him to hit him with a bamboo stick “five or six times a year”.

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GMB: Richard Madeley says he was beaten with a stick as a child

Richard Madeley has been candid about his strained relationship with his father, describing his father as “broken” after a dark family secret.

The 65-year-old GMB host said he believes his father Christopher Holt Madeley was sexually abused when he was sent to boarding school as a teenager.

He believes this resulted in his father being left “broken” and “crapped up” and that his father may have hit him with a bamboo stick “five or six times a year”.

Speaking to the Sunday Times Magazine, he said: “It went on like this until I was about nine or ten and he went a little too far, hit me too many times and my mum had a word and that was it.

“I just want to put that in context. I didn’t find it unusual – other boys were hit by their parents – but I didn’t like it. I wish it hadn’t happened.

“My father was basically done with boarding school. He was a very happy farm boy, but when he was 15 my grandparents discovered he had girlfriend beginnings, which they thought was the road to perdition, so they put him in this ghastly place.”

He went on to explain that it was during the war and his father was seen as an “outsider” as the rest of the boys had known each other since primary school, while he spoke with a Shropshire accent.

Richard added: “I have a strong suspicion that he was sexually abused in some way. He never said that, but there were some clues along the way.”

The presenter said his father was “very unhappy” there and felt “betrayed” by his parents for making him go there.

Christopher had died at the age of 49 while Richard was honeymooning with his first wife.

After his death, Richard said his mother claimed he never got over it, adding: “It broke him”.