After two decades hosting live television from the comfort of the couch, Richard and Judy have quit their teatime chat show.

The couple made the announcement after a turbulent year, in which their afternoon show was hit by the phone-in scandal and their ratings dropped to an average of below 2 million.

Channel 4 had decided not to renew the contract for a new series in 2008, but the husband and wife hosts were believed to have already decided to step down.

It is understood Judy Finnigan, 59, plans to move away from television to write books, while her husband Richard Madeley, 51, will pursue a solo career. A spokesman for the couple said they were also in talks with Channel 4 to present a spin-off Book Club series, and specials, including A Summer Read and The British Book Awards.

The couple found fame hosting ITV’s This Morning in 1988 and defected to Channel 4 in 2001, where they have since become the broadcaster’s highest earners, making a reported £1 million a year each.

Madeley said the Richard & Judy programme “is still full of life, but we have taken the difficult decision to leave it on a high.”

“After seven consecutive years we both feel we have achieved everything we wanted with the show and next autumn, when the last series finishes, will mark almost exactly 20 years in this kind of daily programming,” he said.

“We want the chance to launch other projects in broadcasting and writing while we are still young enough.”

Finnigan said they plan to carry on with the show’s popular Book Club, “which has become very important to us.”

She added: “But there are so many other things we want to do as well, and it feels like the right time for a change,”

In a statement released by Channel 4, the network said: “Their show has deservedly won them many loyal fans while the extraordinary success of their Book Club has brought them wider acclaim for the most successful ever TV initiative in encouraging reading as well as promoting new books and authors.

“We wish them great success and will continue to look at opportunities to work with them in the future.”

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