Piers Morgan breaks silence after Good Morning Britain exit saying late manager ‘would have told me to do same’
PIERS Morgan has broken his silence after quitting Good Morning Britain, saying his late manager would have told him to do the same. The TV host, 55, resigned after senior execs said they wanted him to say sorry on air following his heated clash with the show’s weatherman Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle. Piers stormed off set during […]
PIERS Morgan has broken his silence after quitting Good Morning Britain, saying his late manager would have told him to do the same.
The TV host, 55, resigned after senior execs said they wanted him to say sorry on air following his heated clash with the show’s weatherman Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle.
Follow our Piers Morgan live blog for the latest on his GMB exit…
Piers stormed off set during the huge row with his GMB co-star on Tuesday morning after Alex criticised for his reaction to Meghan’s claims she contemplated suicide and was racially abused by the royal family.
But Piers said he was not willing to apologise, and walked – bringing an immediate end to his six-year stint on the morning show.
In his first tweet since quitting he said: “Thinking of my late, great manager John Ferriter tonight. He’d have told me to do exactly the same thing. @GMB #TrustYourGut.”
Ferriter was an American television producer and talent representative agent represented Piers for decades in the showbiz industry.
He also looked after clients including Peter Andre, Gemma Collins and Mark Wright.
Before that, he worked for decades as an executive with some of Hollywood’s largest celebrity client representation agencies.
Piers was left devastated when Ferriter died suddenly at 59 from pancreatitis in 2019.
On the anniversary of his death he penned a long message about how much he missed his friend.
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom revealed on Tuesday they had received 41,015 complaints about Monday’s episode of the show, prompting them to launch an investigation under their “harm and offence rules”.
Senior execs at the broadcaster were also concerned that his comments clashed with their landmark mental health campaign Get Britain Talking – prompting criticism from charity Mind.
His co-host Susanna Reid, 50, was seen in tears yesterday after a series of heated meetings at ITV’s studios in Television Centre, West London.
Bosses for the channel – which included Director of Television Kevin Lygo – were said to have buckled under the pressure of mounting criticism of former Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers.
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An ITV source said: “Piers was not going to back down.
“He was asked to make an apology but refused. He says he is entitled to his opinion and is always going to stand by it.
“When he refused to apologise, there was a stand-off. And ultimately it ended with him telling producers he would not host the show anymore.