Richard Madeley reveals he came ‘terrifyingly close’ to being shot by a cop while holidaying in USA

Richard Madeley has recounted the ‘terrifying’ moment he was almost shot by a US cop after accidentally speeding on a stateside holiday with his family.

Richard, 64, had been enjoying a road trip with his wife Judy Finnigan and their four children when a police car requested he pull over. The ensuing altercation left his youngest daughter, Chloe, in tears.

Unaware that he’d been going 10mph over the speed limit, Richard swiftly stopped and exited his car so as not to seem impolite. The officer then put his hand on his gun and shouted at Richard to return to his car.

Writing in his column for The Express, the former This Morning host – whose piece was titled The Day A US Cop Aimed A Gun At Me And My Family I Was Traumatised – shared: ‘I was trundling along the freeway at a steady 60, unaware that the speed limit had dropped to 50.’

Richard continued to detail the encounter – which took place when Chloe, now 33, was younger – adding: ‘Being a polite Englishman abroad, once I’d stopped, I opened the driver’s door to meet the officer.’

‘As I walked towards the patrolman, he stiffened, slapped his gun holster and screamed: “Back in the car! Back in the f**king car! Now!” I saw him thumb the holster’s cover back and caress the pistol’s handle.’

After returning to his vehicle, the officer approached and explained he had nearly shot Richard as his leaving the car was interpreted as a threat.

Richard was let off of his speeding ticket in light of the uncomfortable mix-up.

It comes as the veteran presenter is reportedly being lined up to replace Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.

Richard – who has had several guest stints on the show in the past – will reportedly have a trial run on the panel in June.

According to The Sun, bosses will test out Richard with a guest stint this summer, and are hoping he’ll be a good fit to replace Piers thanks to his background in journalism and no-nonsense approach during interviews.

A source said: ‘Piers is nigh-on impossible to replace and GMB execs accept this, but Richard has his own inimitable style.

‘Like Piers, he’s a trained journalist who knows how to press guests and get a decent “line” from interviewees.

‘He shoots from the hip, says what he thinks, and is a genuinely brilliant, likeable chap off air — so it’s very much a ”watch this space”.’

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Good Morning Britain and Richard Madeley for comment.

The reports come just days after Richard himself said he would be open to filling Piers’ seat on GMB.

He told Metro: ‘If the phone went and they said, “Would you come in and talk?” of course I would talk to them. It would be bonkers not to. But I very much like sitting in for people. I have all the fun and very little of the responsibility or flak.’

And while Piers is regularly seen going toe-to-toe with trolls on Twitter, Richard insists he ‘doesn’t give a f**k’ about what they’d say about him should he leave himself open to criticism by sharing his views on the show.

He said of the possibility of facing trolls: ‘I personally couldn’t give a f**k. Far too many younger presenters have been affected by Twitter and cowed by it.

‘I remember when I started sitting in for Piers on Good Morning Britain, I’d have a look at Twitter after I’d done a programme and, yes, you get some nice comments but you also get horrendous abuse and, from time to time, death threats.’