I received a press release the other day and didn’t really know what it meant. All it said was that Richard and Judy were going to leave Channel 4. I have to say I wasn’t surprised after the talk of Judy doing a bunk to write novels and Channel 4 pretty much saying that they were going to jump ship around a year ago. However, it feels like they’ve only been on the station for 5 minutes. Well, regardless, the pair have confirmed that they are moving to digital channel UKTV and will probably sever all ties with Channel 4. The final series of Madeley and Finnigan’s Channel 4 chatshow begins in June, with their final appearance on the network scheduled for Friday August 22. It’s looking likely that Richard Hammond will host the replacement show. So what are Richard and Judy going to do next?

Well, it looks like more of the same really. The pair will front a new daily, weekday show on a new UKTV station which has yet to be launched. On this new show will be their successful book and wine clubs, which they are taking with them from Channel 4. Billed as a “high-octane, celebrity filled talkshow”, the new programme will begin in the autumn.

Finnigan said: “When we announced our decision to leave our current television series after seven years, we were very touched by the number of people – friends, family, guests, viewers and broadcasters – who told us how much they wanted to see us continuing making programmes together.”

Madeley added: “We were both hugely impressed by the team at UKTV, and their proposal with [Richard & Judy producer] Cactus TV was attractive and fun and will give us the kind of flexibility in our personal lives we’ve been looking for. “The fact that the Richard & Judy Book Club will continue too is the icing on the cake.”

The UKTV controller, Matthew Littleford, said: “I am so excited to have signed Richard and Judy – they are truly my TV heroes. To have brought the king and queen of British telly to UKTV, and to be working closely with them to develop a show that will be the most talked about in TV, clearly demonstrates the magnitude of our ambition to drive differentiation for our pay-TV partners in 2008 and beyond.”