'East Didsbury Tescos remembers': Richard Madeley's shoplifting discussion on GMB sparks meme fest

The recent discussion on shoplifting during a Good Morning Britain (GMB) segment featuring Richard Madeley has sparked a flurry of memes and online reactions, mainly referring to the East Didsbury Tesco incident.

On Monday, February 26, 2024, British television presenter Richard Madeley and co-presenter Susanna Reid had a debate on "shoplifting" during GMB. However, it sparked reactions from netizens as Richard was charged and arrested for alleged "shoplifting" as he failed to pay for a few items on Tesco in 1994, as seen in the Birmingham Mail.

In reference to the incident at the East Didsbury Tesco, where Richard Madeley claimed to have mistakenly walked out without paying for his goods, one netizen tweeted,

---

Netizens troll Richard Madeley as GMB discussion recalls his shoplifting arrest

During the segment on Good Morning Britain on Monday, February 26, 2024, Richard Madeley and co-presenter Susanna Reid discussed their experiences of seeing people "shoplifting."

The conversation started as Reid shared an experience where she saw a person stealing "a load of meals" and walking straight out of the mart, while staff did notice, as reported by The Independent.

Madeley joined in sharing his experience and said,

"Your sense of disbelief, I totally share because I was in Boots a few weeks ago, and there was a guy, very efficiently, clearing a bottom shelf of pregnancy testing kits. Just scooping them up into a big, sort of plastic carrier."

He further added,

"And I thought, oh, he's obviously staff, he's changing stock, then as you said in your story, he stood up and walked out with them. And I said exactly the same."

Later in the conversation, Madeley hinted at an incident in 1994 where he did not pay for a bottle of Champagne and walked out. He said,

"I was just not concentrating. I put the food through the till, I forgot to take the Champagne out. I can joke about it now."

The netizens were left unimpressed by his remarks on "shoplifting" and called it an "irony." One X user tweeted, "An ironic start to the week."

On October 5, 2023, Richard Madeley broke his silence on the "Tesco scandal," as reported by the Birmingham Mail. 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."

The television presenter was arrested in 1994 for failing to pay for a few items, including Champagne. This happened twice at a Tesco supermarket in Walkden, Greater Manchester, as reported by The Independent.

Madeley's recent discussion on shoplifting during a segment on GMB sparked memes (Image via X@richardm56)

In 2008, speaking to The Guardian, Richard Madeley talked about the incident and said he forgot to put the champagne through the till. He said,

"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."

Richard Madeley, aged 67, is a renowned English television presenter known for hosting ITV shows such as This Morning and the Channel 4 chat show Richard & Judy.