They were Britain’s favourite television couple until a quiz scandal misled millions of viewers and now Richard and Judy are downsizing after announcing a move to cable television.

Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan will present a “high octane daily talk show” on the UK TV network from this autumn. It means that the couple whose sofa was graced by prime ministers on ITV and then Channel 4 will be performing for a channel watched by a few hundred thousand viewers.

Madeley and Finnigan quit their hit Channel 4 show after seven years. The couple, whose Book Club made best-sellers of new authors, were tarnished by a scandal they claimed to have no knowledge of.

Hundreds of thousands of viewers paid £1 a time to take part in the show’s You Say We Pay quiz, which they had no chance of winning. The company behind the scandal showed “reckless disregard for viewers” and was given a record £150,000 fine by the premium phone line watchdog.

While many presumed they would retire from the screen, or find new televisual partners, they claim to have been lured back by popular demand, albeit on a multichannel network.

Cactus TV, the company behind Richard & Judy, is believed to have signed a £3 million deal to bring the couple’s new show to UK TV, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media. Crucially, Madeley and Finnigan retain the rights to their book and wine clubs, which they will use to lure viewers to the channel.

The UK TV network includes the rebranded channel Dave, which has become a hit with repeats of comedy, panel shows and Top Gear. That channel is watched by ten million viewers a week.

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