In March 2021, Piers announced that he would be stepping down as host of GMB with immediate effect, after five years with the breakfast TV show.
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His exit came at a time the divisive presenter was embroiled in controversy, having just a day earlier made headlines for casting doubt on claims made by Meghan Markle that she had experienced suicidal thoughts during her time as a senior member of the Royal Family.
Now gearing up for the launch of his own TalkTV show, Piers has spoken about how his departure affected his relationship with his former “TV wife”.
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Speaking at a press event to promote his nightly show Piers Morgan Uncensored, he explained: “It’s difficult, you know. We had this arranged marriage, which turned out to be very successful. And then we suddenly got divorced one afternoon. And that was it! Gone!
“I went from seeing Susanna Reid in her curlers and her nightie every day at four in the morning to not seeing her. We stay in touch through texting and stuff, but it was all a bit dramatic and sad, really. I think we both feel that.”
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Piers and Susanna in September 2021, five months after he left Good Morning Britain
David M. Benett via Getty Images
He continued: “We both felt like we had one of the great on-screen chemistries and it all got ended, in my opinion, in a rather silly way. But [ITV’s] loss is going to be TalkTV’s gain.”
“We went through some really difficult times together as a team and those were very powerful moments,” she continued. “And when it came to the lockdown, the pandemic and holding the government to account, he was just unrivalled at holding their feet to the fire, but then it ended.”
Susanna added: “He’s a friend of mine and that won’t change.”
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Piers and Susanna worked together for five years before his sudden exit from GMB
“Effectively I was censored at my previous job,” he claimed. ”[I was] told to apologise to Meghan Markle for an honestly-held opinion, which obviously I wasn’t going to do.”
Piers Morgan Uncensored will launch on TalkTV at 8pm on Monday 25 April.
After five years at the helm of GMB, Piers announced suddenly in March 2021 that he would be stepping down as host with immediate effect.
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News of his exit came the day after he made headlines for casting doubt on claims made by Meghan Markle that she had experienced suicidal thoughts during her time as a senior member of the Royal Family, with Piers’ remark eventually inciting a record number of complaints to Ofcom.
During a press event to promote his show Piers Morgan Uncensored, the divisive broadcaster was asked about his exit from GMB, which he branded “ridiculous”, “absurd” and “a farce”.
“I used to think that I was uncensored,” he claimed. “And then, of course, when I left Good Morning Britain it turned out that I actually was being censored, in the sense that I was told I had to apologise for disbelieving Princess Pinochio, or I would have to leave the building. So I took the ‘leave the building’ option.”
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He described the decision as a “sad moment” for himself, the show and his “poor TV wife” Susanna Reid, joking: “It was a very dramatic divorce. And I thought it was the wrong call by ITV.
“They had the hottest show on TV, it had just beaten the BBC to become the number one-rated breakfast show in the country. I wasn’t expecting a carriage clock, but I wasn’t expecting to be escorted out of the building. So it was all a bit dramatic.”
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid pictured on his final day as a presenter on GMB
ITV/Shutterstock
He continued: “It’s interesting to me that Ofcom, the government-appointed TV regulator, five months later, found in my favour, and said that it would have been a chilling infringement on my rights to free speech had I not been able to say, ‘I don’t believe somebody’. So the whole thing seemed to me a bit ridiculous.”
He said: “The moment you try and get me fired, as Megan Markle did on Good Morning Britain, where she personally writes to the boss of ITV and demands my head on a plate, that is cancel culture right there. And the idea that ITV rolled over to it is ridiculous.
“But that’s why I’m here, and I feel, in a way, grateful to them, because I think this is a very exciting new platform and opportunity.”
Meghan Markle
NDZ/Star Max via Getty Images
“The mystery about the ITV thing was that I was hired specifically to have strongly-held opinions,” he added. “So, that’s why I felt the way I had to leave in the end was so absurd. And the more you look back on it, the more you go, ‘what was that all about?’.
“I thought the whole thing was a farce, and I’m delighted that as a result of the farce, we’ve ended up with a whole network that is now dedicated to preventing that kind of farce from recurring.”
Making a somewhat questionable comparison, Piers added that he felt “like Nelson Mandela when he came out of prison”, joking: “It’s like the long walk to free speech freedom.”
Piers went on to insist that he would not be “looking to steal Good Morning Britain viewers”, before throwing some shade at the daytime TV show, which has brought in a string of rotating guest hosts since Piers’ exit.
“I would be looking to pick up all those who’ve stopped watching [GMB],” he claimed. “Which, judging by when I walk around and judging by their ratings, is a lot of people.
“So if you loved Good Morning Britain when I was on it, and you miss me in that way, you know where to find me. There are a lot of people who I think were annoyed about what went down. And they’d be the ones I’d be after.”
Piers Morgan in the GMB studio
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Since stepping down from GMB over a year ago, Piers has made a number of seemingly conflicting comments about the nature of his exit.
The morning after the news of his exit, Piers told reporters: “I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree. I’m just going to take it easy and see how we go.
“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,” he added at the time.
“Effectively I was censored at my previous job,” he claimed. “[I was] told to apologise to Meghan Markle for an honestly-held opinion, which obviously I wasn’t going to do.”
Piers Morgan Uncensored will launch on TalkTV at 8pm on Monday 25 April.
Wednesday’s interview got off to a shaky start when Susanna asked Liam to stop patronising her.
“You’re an intelligent journalist,’ Liam said. “And you haven’t understood what I said last week about what we do in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity.
Susanna retorted: “Liam, try not to be so patronising when you’re talking to me.”
Things then went from bad to worse when Richard stepped in to say that blocking the motorways puts the lives of others at risk.
“You’re not accepting the responsibility of your actions,” Richard told him.
“Well, if you say something stupid, I’ll cut you off,” Richard added. “The way you’re putting your argument is fatal, it has fatal consequences.”
Getting increasingly irate, Liam then launched into rant, stating: “We’ve been writing letters for 30 years. We’ve been writing petitions for 30 years. This is our line in the sand. We are demanding the government makes a meaningful statement to save the future of this country and if they refuse to do it then they can put us in prison.”
Liam then stood up and yelled: “I’ve had enough of talking to people in this country about what we’re doing. This is the state of things.”
The Government is today seeking an injunction against the environmental group after police warned that their tactics on the M25 are likely to cause “serious injury or death”.
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps vowed to ensure ‘guerrilla’ activists “cannot keep disrupting and endangering people’s lives”.
Celia also revealed that she thinks Susanna – who was often described as Piers’ ‘long-suffering on-screen wife’ – did “the whole wife thing” better than her because she knew how to “manage” the divisive presenter.
Speaking to The Sun, Celia revealed: “We used to bitch about him behind his back together. In fact, I always felt she was better at the whole ‘wife’ thing than me. She was very good at managing him.”
Celia, who married Piers in 2010, also revealed what it was like living with Piers since he was axed from his job on GMB.
Richard YoungRichard Young/Shutterstock
Celia Walden, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid
“Well, I always think of that famous quote, ‘Behind every great man, there’s a woman rolling her eyes’ — I am that woman,” she said.
“Being married to Piers is basically one very long eye roll. But what people don’t realise about Piers is that he’s usually very quiet at home because he’s exhausted himself on whatever interview he’s been doing.
“This is the only reason I am sad about him leaving GMB — well, that and the fact I wake up and there he is, staring back at me morning after morning.
“But really, he used to come back and by 9am was absolutely flattened, lying there on the sofa, catatonic, not bothering anyone.”
She added: “Unfortunately he’s got all his energy back now. Please, someone, just give him a job!
“But what’s extraordinary is that before it really was that Marmite thing with him — a split between those who loved or loathed him.
“But recently the attention has been 99.9 per cent positive. It’s been like walking around with a national treasure. Very odd.”
Patsy Palmer cut short an interview on Wednesday’s GMB
Revealing she was appearing to discuss her company, Good and Proper Hair, Patsy wrote under a previous Insta post: “My apologies to anyone that wants to hear good news as I have great faith that considering what is going on in the world right now there are still some people that do.
“I keep seeing people saying ‘get over yourself’, I have gotten over my old self years ago and no longer wish to discuss it when I only have 5 minutes air time
“I have been a people pleaser my whole life. I am not going to waste those precious 5 minutes talking about things that are 20 years old or about Meghan and Harry.
“If I do post things on social media in reaction to a TV show or an article I’ve read about something that’s my platform.
“I have always been very open and honest at certain times in my life as many people are forced to be in the public eye…
“I was supposed to be on there to talk about a new business that I created that couldn’t be more opposite to that headline.”
ITV
Patsy took offence to the strap line that appeared on screen
The former Bianca Jackson actor then hit out at “trolls and haters” who had criticised her actions.
“Go fuck yourselves,” she wrote. “I’ve worked hard on myself to remove negativity from my life and the lives of my children so if anyone has a problem with that you need to go and take a look at your lives and wonder what drives you to jump on here to attack me for standing my ground.
“If you are parents doing that then shame on you. I hope you find some joy amidst all the madness.”
Patsy had been speaking on GMB from her home in Malibu via video link, with Susanna asking about her life out in the US as her opening question.
After noticing the offending strap line, she said: “You know what, actually, I don’t even want to do this interview because I don’t even want to look at what it says at the bottom of the screen,” she said.
“So I’m going to switch off, do a real Piers Morgan, and just say that it’s not okay to have ‘addict to wellness guru’ at the bottom of the screen.
“My issues I had years ago, that were talked about by me many, many years ago and it’s over so I’m not going to talk about it.
“I don’t really want to talk to you,” she said, as she pulled down the lid of her laptop.
Susanna and Ben tried to apologise, before throwing to a weather forecast.
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