Richard Madeley addresses his shock shoplifting arrest live on GMB

Richard Madeley has addressed his shoplifting arrest in the 1990s live on Good Morning Britain as he claimed it was 'easy to forget to pay for things'.

The broadcaster, 63, was presenting the ITV breakfast show alongside co-host Kate Garraway, during a segment about granting security guards in stores increased powers.

The duo discussed the suggestion that store detectives be allowed to arrest or maybe handcuff suspected shoplifters, with it even being suggested supermarkets have cells built inside them.

Urging viewers to give their opinions on the idea, Kate, 57, said: 'There's such a scourge of shoplifting and it's causing so many problems for shopkeepers and for everybody else. So let us know what you think.'

After reading out some comments that had been sent in, Richard gave his thoughts, acknowledging his own experiences.

He said: 'I know from my own experience that it's very easy to forget to pay for stuff.'

The presenter went on: 'And woah, just a minute a store detective, would you really accept a store detective putting you in cuffs?

'I mean, you would say, "Woah, hold on! I've just made an honest mistake, let me explain." There's a lot to go out there.'

Richard was arrested in 1994 for allegedly failing to pay for items, including champagne, on two occasions at a Tesco supermarket in Walkden, Greater Manchester. A jury later found him not guilty of the offence after he cited a lapse of memory.

Speaking about the incident to The Sun last year, he said: 'Thank God Twitter wasn't around then. But the whole thing was so self-evidently b****cks, that my not paying was an oversight. 

'It was leaked by someone at Tesco. At the time though, I thought, "Well, of course it's going to be OK because otherwise the world's gone mad." I never felt I was going to get cancelled.

'Granada Television were fantastic. And the Monday after they found out, and knew the facts of the case and knew it was rubbish, they told me not to worry.

'We carried on as normal. I went to crown court, my lawyer told me to get in front of a jury so people could see it was an obvious oversight. So that's what I did. And I was absolutely acquitted.

'But I told viewers about it. I mean, Judy had to open This Morning on her own while I was in court for two minutes, then I'd get in my car and drive from Manchester to Liverpool, rock up, walk on the set while she was mid-interview, and sit down and join in. It was surreal.'

He added: 'After the trial, it was as if it had never happened. I've never really spoken about it because, as I said at the start of this interview, when you're on camera you're only one sentence away, and you can so easily get it wrong.'

In 2008, Richard explained that the incident happened by mistake after he forgot to put champagne through the till alongside his food shop.

Speaking to The Guardian, he insisted: 'I was just not concentrating. I put the food through the till, I forgot to take the champagne out.

'It was, "I can handle anything, I can juggle eight balls in the air," and actually I came a horrible cropper. I can joke about it now.'

It comes after Richard candidly revealed last week that he and his wife Judy Finnigan often sleep in separate beds.

The iconic duo first met back in the 80s while working at ITV Granada Television, before going on to tie the knot in 1986.

Richard revealed that he sleeps in the spare room when he presents GMB because he has to wake up in the middle of the night and doesn't want to disrupt Judy's sleep.

During an appearance on Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast, he admitted: 'When I'm doing Good Morning Britain I sleep in the spare room. I do probably sleep a little bit better in bed with Judy but I'm okay on my own.'

Of the possibility of disrupting his wife's sleep with the early wake-ups, he added: 'I wouldn't think of doing that to Judy. Apart from anything else, Judy and her sleep, you do not mess with.'