“I will never have a member of the opposite sex come into my dressing room at a TV studio, be it a researcher or producer or whoever, without leaving the door open,” he told Event magazine.

“Just so people can’t start gossiping and saying things like “Ooh, I saw so-and-so going into Richard’s dressing room”, and all that s***.”

Speaking in the wake of Operation Yewtree, the nationwide inquiry that exposed a shocking history of sexual offending by Jimmy Saville and Rolf Harris – but has since been marred by the collapse of a string of investigations into celebrities including Sir Cliff, Jim Davidson and Paul Gambaccini – Madeley added that the move was a sensible precaution to take.