Richard Madeley has said he felt “ashamed” for hitting his children when they were young.
The broadcaster opened up about the subject on Good Morning Britain, while discussing a forthcoming law change that will make smacking children illegal in Wales. The law comes into effect from 21 March.
Madeley has two children with his wife and former Richard and Judy co-host Judy Finnigan: Jack, who is now 35, and Chloe, now 34.
“For full disclosure, when my children were growing up, I certainly never used a stick,” Madeley said.
“But once or twice, I think with Jack – he was the first born – I think I sort of tapped his bottom a couple of times with the flat of my hand,” he continued.
“Do you know what? I always thought that was a point of failure, my failure. I felt ashamed of it.”
Madeley also said that he had been “hit quite a lot” as a child by his own father, whom he described as a “great father”.
The presenter said that this lead to him having “mixed feelings” on the issue.
“It was typical of the day, we’re talking about the 1960s but I was hit with a stick,” he said. “Reflecting on it now, if it had been outlawed then, I wouldn’t have been hit and he wouldn’t have broken the law. Is that the knock-on effect?
“That it would prevent parents and make them think if this ban was to be introduced.”
The episode also featured two guests, who debated whether corporal punishment was ever acceptable.
Journalist Rebecca Wilcox argued: “It has been proven that if you make [smacking] illegal, it is a form of education. It is not criminalising parents to send them to prison.
“It is about educating them that actually, smacking has a negative impact on mental health through childhood and all the way through adolescence. It is not that long ago we outlawed domestic violence.”
The Association of Educational Psychologists has previously called for a ban on smacking, which it said “can have negative long-term effects on a child’s development”.
