Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley said “I’m not ashamed to admit it,” when talking about the heartache over his beloved cat.
The 68-year-old TV presenter was on air for Monday morning’s edition of the ITV show (April 21) with fellow host Ranvir Singh.
In a touching segment, Richard and Ranvir were chatting with guest Kellie Watson, who has been pushing for stricter rules when it comes to drivers hitting cats, after the tragic loss of her own kitten, Martha.
Under current UK legislation, which excludes cats from the compulsory reporting requirements in the Road Traffic Act 1988 unlike dogs, horses, and livestock, drivers don’t have to report such accidents.
Moved by Kellie’s campaign and the death of her 11-month-old Martha, Richard opened up about his own sorrow following the passing of his cherished cat, TC, who fell victim to leukaemia, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Richard conveyed: “Well, I was saying earlier, that many years ago I had a cat. He died after two years of cat leukaemia and it happened very quickly, he died in like three days. And it took me ages to get over it and I’m not ashamed to admit it!”
Ranvir brought up how Richard had been visibly “upset” recalling the incident earlier that day. He admitted: “Yeah, because I remember TC as an individual.
“He was great company, very funny and played great games and all the rest of it and I really missed him when he had gone!”
After hearing his heartbreaking tale, some viewers flocked to social media platform X to post their reactions. One astounded viewer tweeted: “Wait! It’s messing with my head?! Richard Madeley sticking up for cats? Telling a story about the bond with his cat TC, who died of leukaemia, how he mourned it for 6 months – WTF?! How can I slag him off after this?!?”
Kellie, mourning her own feline friend Martha, had previously confessed to BBC News: “She was only with us a short amount of time, but she was our baby.”
She went on to express her bewilderment at drivers’ callousness: “I can’t understand drivers just hitting a cat and just leaving them in the middle of the road.
“Why wouldn’t you do that with a dog, so why do that with cats?” she questioned.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
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