Piers Morgan quits Good Morning Britain after Meghan Markle row

Authored by mirror.co.uk and submitted by SparrowFIight
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Piers Morgan has quit Good Morning Britain for good with immediate effect, following backlash about his recent comments about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on the show.

He will not return to the ITV show, amid a record high in ratings on Monday which Piers confirmed on Twitter ahead of the announcement.

The opinionated star clashed with GMB co-star Alex Beresford on the show on Tuesday, after his response to Meghan and husband Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey which aired on Monday night.

But now, ITV have revealed amid reported talks with Piers, that the host will not be back on the show - amid calls for him to go from viewers over what he had to say about the royal couple, with him hitting out at both Meghan and Harry on numerous occasions over the past couple years.

His previous comments, and his fiery showdowns on the show such as those with MPs have often divided viewers.

ITV confirmed his sudden departure, revealing: "Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain.

"ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add."

Piers himself took to Twitter just minutes before the statement was released by ITV, with nothing but an image of a clock.

Just hours earlier, it was revealed Ofcom would be investigating complaints made against GMB and the host following Monday's tense episode.

ITV were also said to be having talks with the star, who would mark six years on the show this year, over his comments - while there was apparently no arguing back when Piers resigned after things "blew up".

Last night sources claimed Morgan had been ordered to apologise on air over his Meghan comments but had refused. One insider said: “This is Piers Morgan we're talking about, he has never backed down in his life – he's hardly going to start now.”

ITV bosses have been impressed with his performance on the show over the past five years, which have seen ratings rise from 600,000 in its early days to 1.7million now.

But on this issue, it is understood they felt that without an apology his position was untenable. The insider added: “Things blew up and Piers said he didn't want to host the show any more - his resignation was accepted without any argument. It's a huge shame because he's been so strong across the pandemic and on Brexit.”

He joined the series in 2015, after previously fronting Piers Morgan Live on American news channel CNN, with the network deciding to pull the plug on his show after just three years in 2014.

After the couple's tell-all chat with Winfrey aired in the US on Sunday night, Piers spent much of Monday's GMB ranting about the bombshell allegations.

The host told viewers he was 'sickened' by the 'two hour trashathon' as he accused Harry and Meghan of likening the Royal Family to white supremacists.

He also dismissed Meghan's account of her mental health battle, which has led to him coming under fire from mental health charity Mind.

Then on Tuesday, barely minutes into the show, Piers stormed off the set after being called out by Alex over his comments the day before.

Speaking about the couple's chat with Oprah and their decision to leave the UK, Alex said: "They've had an overwhelming amount of negative press.

"You know, I watched the programme yesterday and, yes, they had some great press around the wedding, but what press is going to trash someone's special day?

"There was bad press around the engagement before the engagement, and everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging, quite clearly, to Meghan's mental health and also to Harry.

"And I hear Piers say William has gone through the same thing but, do you know what, siblings experience tragedy in their life and one will be absolutely fine and brush it off.

"And the other will not be able to deal with it so strongly and that is clearly what has happened with Harry in this situation.

"He walked behind his mother's coffin at a tender, tender age in front of the globe.

"That is going to shape a young boy for the rest of his life, so I think we all need to take a step back.

"And I understand that you don't like Meghan Markle, you've made it so clear a number of times on this programme..."

"And I understand you've got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off.

"She's entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don't think she has but yet you continue to trash her..."

Piers stood up and said: "OK, I'm done with this" and walked off set, saying: "Sorry, no... sorry, can't do this..."

Piers eventually returned to the set, but he and Alex weren't finished with being at loggerheads.

Ofcom revealed they had received over 40,000 complaints from horrified viewers, over the prior episode.

"I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report," Piers fired in response to Meghan saying she felt 'suicidal' while working as a senior royal.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.

spiralism on March 9th, 2021 at 18:49 UTC »

Any money this was intentional and Andrew Neil has approached him for GB News. Farage has also stepped back from "public life" (let's just call it that) and I'd wager any money he's also been approached.

Get ready folks. The UK equivalent of Fox News is coming.

tewk1471 on March 9th, 2021 at 18:46 UTC »

Perhaps tomorrow we'll find out what Suzannah has been trying to say for ten years but hasn't managed to get her sentence out before being talked over.

pajamakitten on March 9th, 2021 at 18:33 UTC »

£10 says he'll be the host of a show on Rupert Murdoch's new channel.