A savaging by Lily

Down among the sofas in the cosy world of daytime television, open warfare has been declared.

On one side are Richard and Judy, long- established king and queen of the chatshow.

And on the other is Paul O'Grady, also known as Lily Savage, who is presenting his own series featuring celebrity guests at the same time.

In a furious attack on the couple, he described their style as 'snivelling, grovelling and pathetic'.

Tempers first flared when both programmes, which go out every weekday at 5pm, booked Joan Collins only for Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan to pull rank on their Liverpudlian rival. This week, after the Richard and Judy show announced they had secured Madonna as a guest, tensions were raised yet further.

'I don't give a toss who Richard and Judy have got - it could be the Pope for all I care,' said O'Grady at Tuesday night's after-show party for the new West End hit The Producers. 'Whoever they get, I'll still be nailing them in the ratings, day in and day out.

'No doubt Richard and Judy will be their usual snivelling, grovelling selves around Madonna. Who wants to watch that? It just looks pathetic.'

Latest viewing figures support the 49-year-old's claims. His ITV1 show is averaging 2.5million viewers, half a million up on his Channel 4 rivals.

ITV decided to go head to head against its former This Morning favourites with O'Grady, who began his eight-week stint last month.

He thought he had achieved a coup by signing Miss Collins in his first week only to be disappointed when Richard and Judy persuaded her to pull out, allegedly threatening to blacklist her publishers.

At the time he said: 'The Richard and Judy show is fighting dirty now.

The last thing we needed was for a guest to pull out at the last minute. It's really rotten.'

The two warring sides appeared to have reached a rapprochement a week ago, with luvvie-style kisses backstage at the National Television Awards. O'Grady apologised for his comments, saying: 'I love those two far too much to muck up my relationship with them.'

But in his latest attack, he accused 48-year-old Madeley and his 56-yearold wife of 'blanking' him at the awards.