Richard and Judy 'going it alone'

Richard and Judy have appeared on TV together for more than 20 years

Television presenter Richard Madeley has said he and his wife Judy Finnigan may bring their long-running on-screen partnership to an end.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Madeley said: "It's been 20 years of doing the same kind of thing."

He spoke about "tantalising" solo projects, but added they may team up for one-off specials.

The pair quit their Channel 4 show last year for digital channel Watch, where audiences have been as low as 8,000.

Literary strand

The 52-year-old broadcaster told presenter Kirsty Young: "I think we both feel we have done pretty much all we can do as a partnership in terms of the talk shows, but I think probably we both feel the need to diversify.

"I am not saying we will never work together again - I'm sure we will," he added.

The couple defected to Channel 4 from ITV in 2001

When the couple announced they were moving to Watch last year, they said it would enable them to pursue other broadcasting and writing projects while they were "still young enough".

Their primetime show initially attracted 100,000 viewers, far less than on their teatime slot on Channel 4, which they began in 2001.

Three years after that move to Channel 4 the couple launched their popular book club strand, which has been retained on their current show.

They shot to fame from 1988 on ITV daytime programme This Morning, two years after they married.

Before their on-screen partnership, Madeley worked in regional TV news, including the current affairs programme Granada Reports.

Finnigan also worked at Granada Television, and in the 1970s was a reporter for Anglia Television news.