Piers Morgan updates – live: Alex Beresford speaks out after GMB presenter steps down

A petition urging ITV to reinstate Morgan as GMB’s co-anchor has reached over 20,000 signatures in just two days.

“How ITV have treated Piers Morgan after he saved one of their failing shows is appalling”, the petition reads. “They have thrown him under the bus and allowed him to be bullied by a colleague on air” – likely a reference to Tuesday’s (9 March) confrontation between Morgan and co-star Alex Beresford that prompted the presenter to walk off set abruptly.

“Piers has turned the show into the most talked about show on ITV. He was the only person who spoke on behalf of viewers during the pandemic and now he’s been bullied by the snowflakes all for speaking the truth.”

Speaking about his presenting future yesterday Morgan said that he is in a “temporary hibernation” but told reporters: “I’ll be back.”

The Welsh health minister has called Morgan’s comments about Markle “wholly unacceptable”.

Vaughan Gething said that he fears the presenter’s remarks about mental health “would have set a number of people back”.

“I thought Piers Morgan’s comments about not believing what Meghan Markle had to say about her mental health was wholly unacceptable, incredibly unkind and exactly where we should not be in public debate and discourse,” he added.

“I think the comments and the tone of them I think would have set a number of people back and that highly judgmental approach is really unhealthy and unhelpful.”

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues discussed in this article, you can contact Samaritans by calling 116 123, emailing jo@samaritans.org or visiting their website.

Celia Walden, Morgan’s wife, has shared a joke video following the presenter’s exit from GMB.

Walden, who has been married to Morgan for 10 years, shared a parody video – created by comedian Alexandra Haddow – on her Instagram account.

The clip (titled “Piers Morgan’s wife waking up this morning”) shows a woman, who is supposed to be Walden, waking up peacefully only to be shocked at the sight of “Morgan” next to her after years of mornings spent alone.

Morgan has been working on GMB since 2014.

Walden accompanied Haddow’s video with the caption: “Right on the money”.

The Independent’s Tom Peck has written an op-ed about Piers Morgan’s popularity.

Calling the ex-GMB presenter “the self-appointed and self-created chief world troll”, Peck writes that anyone hoping the value of Morgan’s stock tumbling in light of recent events are “highly likely to be disappointed”.

Peck reflected on Morgan’s “time campaigning for gun control in the US via his show on CNN”, pointing out that “when he interviewed Donald Trump spent less time asking him about that than he did trying to give him a personalised Arsenal shirt”.

He adds that getting upset with the presenter is “like getting angry with Borat” and adds that “the inner smallness of the real man is revealed through the tactics of the persona”.

BBC News accidentally called on the wrong guest to speak about Morgan’s departure.

News presenter Reeta Chakrabarti introduced Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (activist, lawyer and author of This Is Why I Resist) onto the programme to speak about Morgan’s GMB exit.

The guest on screen, however, was not Dr Shola and therefore did not respond to Chakrabarti’s repeated calls asking for “Dr Shola”.

“I’m so sorry, clearly we’re having some trouble there,” said the reporter. “Let’s move on. We’ll try and get her a little bit later.”

Dr Shola later shared a clip of the humorous on-air blunder, accompanied with the caption: “Moment BBC called for Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu... that’s not me I’m afraid [crying laughter face emoji].”

She did later appear on BBC News to speak with Chakrabarti and condemned Morgan’s comments.

“There’s no denying that his malicious obsession of Meghan Markle is truly reprehensible,” she said.

“His irrational dislike of her has caused him or led him to abuse his position as a host of one of the national platforms in the country and that means he inevitably escalates and aggravates the bigoted, racist, and misogynistic attacks on Meghan Markle.”

Viewers were confused to find that Susanna Reid was missing from GMB this morning (11 March).

Reid, who usually presents the ITV show with Ben Shephard on Thursdays, was nowhere to be seen on the programme’s latest instalment.

The anchor’s absence comes just one day after she explained Morgan’s departure from the show.

The presenter addressed his exit on Wednesday (10 March) in a speech at the beginning of the show, in which she called Morgan “an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive” broadcaster.

Here’s a rundown of what Morgan has said in the days since his ITV exit was announced on Tuesday evening (9 March)...

On his decision to leave GMB...

- Morgan described the departure as “amicable”.

- “I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree.”

- Asked what he would say to GMB co-star Alex Beresford, with whom he had a heated confrontation during Tuesday’s show (9 March) that prompted Morgan to walk off set, the presenter replied: “Good luck to him.”

On his future career...

- “I think it’s fair to say, although the woke crowd will think that they’ve cancelled me, I think they will be rather disappointed when I re-emerge. I would call it a temporary hibernation.”

- He added that he is “always in talks with people”

On Meghan Markle...

- “I don’t believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible.”

- “If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it.”

- Following his exit from the show, the ex-GMB host tweeted that he “had time to reflect” on his previous remarks in which he said he did not believe Markle in her Oprah interview, and concluded: “I still don’t.”

Dr Hilary Jones has defended Morgan, stating that he “champion[ed] the little people”.

The presenter spoke out in support of his former co-star during today’s GMB instalment (11 March), saying that Morgan has a “very generous heart” and that he is “generous to a fault”.

The 67-year-old continued: “I had my spats with Piers, but he took politicians to account [...] he probed and he pushed and he was well researched.

“I think he did champion the little people, the people who had no voice.”

Jones added that Morgan “did a great deal to look after the mental health of the NHS staff”.

“He championed the fact they were under the cosh and that they were working very hard. He offered to pay their ludicrous parking fines at hospitals, and actually did that. He had a very generous heart.”

GMB’s Alex Beresford has publicly addressed Morgan’s exit from the ITV breakfast show.

Beresford spoke out about his former co-star’s departure in a lengthy statement shared on Twitter, writing: “I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen.”

The weatherman said: “Piers’ departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was hoping for.”

He went on to address the heated exchange that occurred between the two presenters on Tuesday’s show (9 March) over Morgan’s comments about Meghan Markle. The on-air argument prompted Morgan to walk off set abruptly. ITV announced his exit from GMB later that evening. 

“We both wanted to be on the show Tuesday morning [the day after Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview aired in the UK], and from our very public conversations on Twitter, we both knew how strongly our opinions differed on the treatment of Harry and Meghan pre and post the interview that has split the world,” said Beresford.

The 40-year-old said that it is “sad” that the pair could not “reach a place of understanding”.

He added that he is “grateful” to Morgan for giving him advice on “several occasions” and said that “Piers has always supported my growth”.