Richard Madeley has emotionally opened up about the caning he suffered at school - which left him physically scarred for four years - insisting there was a "sexual" motive behind it.
The presenter, 67, spoke to Princess Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, on Tuesday's Good Morning Britain, who has bravely discussed his own harrowing boarding school experience in new memoir A Very Private School.
During the interview, it prompted Richard to open up about his own school experience. The presenter said: "I didn't go to boarding school, I went to a boy's grammar school, where I was viciously caned.
"Without question, with sexual motive by a male and a female member of staff. They did it together. She watched while he did it and at the time, I was 11, I didn't realise what was going on.
"I knew I was being caned, it was agonising, I was scarred for about four years after that. But when I went home and told my parents what had happened, although they were very sorry on my behalf, there was no question that they were going to go back to the school and complain or raise the issue. They regarded the punishment as somehow being meet, just and part of the system!"
Earlier in the show, prior to the interview, Richard said of caning at schools: "It went on into the 1980s", adding: "I was regularly caned at school in the late 1960s and yes, there were sexual elements to it, undoubtedly. It was real abuse."
Co-host, Susanna Reid, was horrified as she said: "Awful! Honestly, horror, at a place where you're supposed to be protected and looked after by people because your parents aren't there."
It comes as Richard opened up about being beaten by his father as a child on Good Morning Britain back in 2020. The presenter discussed his experience during a debate on smacking children on the show.
Richard said: "I was quite badly beaten when I was a kid, my dad used to use a cane, a stick. It was quite serious and totally unacceptable." He went on: "When I look back to my childhood, most of my friends at school were hit by their parents and hit with sticks, I got the cane several times when I was at school and seriously got beaten..."
He continued by describing his experience at school: "I got three strokes... for throwing a paper dart", adding: "The scars lasted six months and I am still angry about it."
If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, http://www.victimsupport.org.uk.
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