GMB’s Kate Garraway and Dr Hilary step up to praise ex-host Piers Morgan
‘We were a team, and we WON’: Piers Morgan thanks GMB stars and crew after show beat rival BBC Breakfast in ratings war for first time on his last day – as Kate Garraway and Dr Hilary praise ‘authentic’ and ‘big-hearted’ ex-host
- Kate Garraway addressed Piers’s departure from Good Morning Britain saying he is ‘passionate and authentic’
- More than 60,000 have signed several petitions online calling for Piers to return to host the breakfast show
- Piers today tweeted a message of thanks to GMB team and said he’d achieved his one goal as he bowed out
Piers Morgan today tweeted a message of thanks to the Good Morning Britain team and said he’d achieved his one goal as he bowed out – to beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings.
Piers tweeted this morning: ‘I had one goal when I joined GMB – beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it.
‘That was down to the hard work & dedication of the whole team. They don’t all agree with me, some don’t even like me, but we were a team..and we won. Thanks guys. I’ll miss you.’
On his smash-hit final episode, GMB won the ratings war with rival BBC Breakfast for the first time.
On Tuesday BBC got 1.25m viewers, 33.4% share, compared to GMB’s average 1.29m viewers and 35.3% share.
But on Wednesday – in the wake of Piers’ departure – BBC overtook ITV again, with 1.42m viewers, compared to 1.21m for GMB.
This comes after more than 60,000 Britons called for him to return to the programme in the space of 12 hours.
One petition, called ‘Bring Back Piers Morgan!‘, accused ITV of treating him ‘appallingly’ and another, ‘Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life‘, now has more than 114,000 signatures.
A third, which has been signed by more than 39,000 people, describes getting him sacked as ‘an absolute farce’.
The total number of signatures for the three polls is now more than 172,000 – up from 110,000 yesterday afternoon.
On today’s GMB, Kate Garraway addressed co-host Piers’s departure, describing him as ‘passionate’ and ‘authentic’.
Piers Morgan today tweeted a message of thanks to the Good Morning Britain team
Piers happily stopped and smiled for the cameras as he left his west London home with daughter Elise this morning
Mrs Garraway said: ‘That’s the thing about Piers, isn’t he, he is very passionate, he does fly kites and have debates but it always comes from a place of authenticity, he always believes in what he says, and he’s left.
‘He’s decided to quit, and as he put it himself, fall on his sword for free speech.
‘I’ve known him a long time before starting this programme, our friendship will go on, our personal friendship, and he’s been very supportive of me personally.’
The programme’s Health Editor Dr Hilary Jones also paid tribute, saying Mr Morgan ‘has a big heart’.
He added: ‘I’ve had my spats with Piers… but I think he did champion the little people, the people who had no voice.’
ITV’s shares yesterday plummeted by 4.3 per cent amid campaigners writing to ITV and Ofcom over concerns of a ‘chilling effect on free speech’.
They were worried about the way the broadcaster insisted Mr Morgan apologise for expressing his opinion, saying journalists should be ‘free to express their scepticism’ about statements made by high-profile people without the risk of losing their job.
There has been an outpouring of support for Piers on social media
On today’s GMB, longtime friend of Mr Morgan, Kate Garraway, paid tribute to him and said that their friendship would go on
Mrs Garraway said: ‘That’s the thing about Piers, isn’t he, he is very passionate, he does fly kites and have debates but it always comes from a place of authenticity, he always believes in what he says, and he’s left’
The programme’s Health Editor Dr Hilary Jones also paid tribute, saying Mr Morgan ‘has a big heart’
Toby Young, of The Free Speech Union, expressed fears it looked like ITV was ‘happy to censure’ a journalist ‘at the request of a member of the Royal Family’.
Former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, who is launching new channel GB News, said he wished to talked to Mr Morgan about a role, saying he would be a ‘great asset’.
Meghan Markle wrote to ITV’s boss to complain about Mr Morgan hours before the GMB co-host quit following an on-screen row with weatherman Alex Beresford.
The Duchess of Sussex insists she was not upset that Mr Morgan said he ‘didn’t believe a word she said’ in her Oprah interview – but was worried about how his comments could affect people attempting to deal with their own mental health problems, an insider told the Press Association.
Standing firm yesterday, following his departure, Mr Morgan told reporters outside his West London home: ‘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.’
On Monday Ms Markle went directly to ITV’s CEO Dame Carolyn McCall, the former boss of the left-wing Guardian newspaper, who signed off on the broadcaster’s £1million deal to show the Oprah interview and said yesterday they were ‘dealing with’ the GMB host.
Mr Morgan is understood to have been ordered to apologise – but he refused and quit instead saying he had the right to tell viewers his ‘honestly held opinions’ and declaring: ‘Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on’.
His departure from ITV’s breakfast show, which he helped transform into a ratings hit that beat its BBC rival for the first time this week, came amid the fallout from the extraordinary Oprah interview that has caused the Royal Family’s worst crisis since Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936.
Hours after it was broadcast Mr Morgan branded Meghan ‘Princess Pinocchio’ after the Duchess said she was suicidal while five months pregnant but was denied any help by the palace.
She also accused the Royal Family of being concerned Archie’s skin would be too ‘dark’ and denying him the title of prince because he is mixed race, with Mr Morgan demanding the Sussexes back up their claims with evidence.
His views, and his refusal to back down in the row, sparked more than 41,000 complaints made to Ofcom, fuelled by an orchestrated social media campaign spearheaded by his critics including several Labour MPs.
But despite Mr Morgan’s years of successful skewering of ministers on the show, which led to a Government boycotts if GMB during the pandemic, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he ‘would miss him’.
Today, Alex Beresford said he did not want Piers Morgan to quit Good Morning Britain after their heated on-air discussion about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The weather presenter clashed with the broadcaster on Tuesday over his comments about Harry and Meghan’s interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.
Morgan stormed off set during their conversation before stepping down from the ITV programme permanently later that day.
Addressing Morgan’s departure on Twitter, Beresford said: ‘I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen.’
The presenter has since reiterated his criticisms.
Beresford said challenging Morgan’s views was ‘not an outrage’.
‘There is so much that could be said. Piers’ departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was hoping for,’ he said.
‘Over the last few years, Piers and I have had a lively, cheeky on-air relationship.
‘We both wanted to be on the show on Tuesday morning, 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.
‘I hoped we could reach a place of understanding. It’s sad that we weren’t able to get there, but challenging his opinion was not an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to disagree.’
He added: ‘Personally, Piers has always supported my growth. He’s given me advice on several occasions and for that I am grateful. I wish him well.’
During Tuesday’s programme, Beresford told him: ‘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.’
In their own words: What Piers Morgan and his GMB colleagues have said about his exit and the fallout
Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan labelled the Duchess of Sussex’s comments in her interview with Oprah Winfrey as ‘contemptible’.
Speaking outside his London home after quitting Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, the presenter described his departure from the programme as ‘amicable’, adding: ‘I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree.’
Morgan added: ‘I’m just going to take it easy and see how we go.
‘I believe in freedom of speech, I believe in the right to be allowed to have an opinion. If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that’s entirely their right.
‘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.’
Piers Morgan said: ‘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’.
Asked what he would say to his Good Morning Britain colleague, Alex Beresford, with whom he had a heated debate during Tuesday’s show, Morgan said: ‘Good luck to him.’
Susanna Reid
Susanna Reid said Good Morning Britain will be ‘very different’ but ‘shows go on’ as she addressed the abrupt departure of her co-host Piers Morgan.
Speaking during Wednesday’s programme, she said: ‘He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster.
‘He has many critics and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan’s interview. He himself clarified his comments about her mental health on the show yesterday.
‘There are many voices on GMB and everyone has their say. But now Piers has decided to leave the programme. Some of you may cheer and others may boo.
‘He has been my presenting partner, Monday to Wednesday, for more than five years and during Brexit and the pandemic and other issues, he has been a voice for many of you and a voice that many of you have railed against.
‘It is certainly going to be very different but shows go on and so on we go.’
Reid commented that it had been a ‘rollercoaster ride’, and said: ‘As you know as viewers we have had our disagreements daily. I mean there have been times when I’ve thought we haven’t been able to agree on anything – on and off screen of course, you know that, it’s one of the dynamics of the programme but Piers has made the decision to leave Good Morning Britain and so it is looking very different this morning.’
Ranvir Singh
Discussing Piers Morgan’s departure, Ranvir Singh said he had ‘ruffled feathers and he shook up everything on breakfast television, on all channels, you know, it wasn’t just about this show, he shook up the landscape of what we do, the nature of what we do, so that can’t be denied…’
Ms Singh is amongst the favourites to take the job, but said: ‘I was here anyway, don’t read anything into this, I was here anyway. I’ve shifted seats on this brand new desk. It’s a strange morning for all of us here, but the decision has been made and i think when there are thousands of complaints about something things have to be taken seriously.’
Kate Garraway
Presenting Thursday’s ITV show, Garraway said of her former colleague: ‘He is very passionate. He does fly kites and have debates but it always comes from a place of authenticity.
‘He always believes in what he says.’
She added: ‘He’s left. He’s decided to quit and, as he put it himself, fall on the sword of free speech.’
Garraway, whose husband Derek Draper is in hospital after being admitted with coronavirus last year, said her friendship with Morgan ‘will go on’, adding: ‘He’s been very supportive of me personally.’
And she said of the future of the ITV programme: ‘It’s a different show but the show goes on.’
Ben Shephard
Co-host Ben Shephard told viewers: ‘It’s crucial that we all appreciate and understand that right now, particularly in the middle of a pandemic… that the debate about mental health and concern for people… is something that we take very seriously and is hugely important to all.’
How Piers Morgan transformed struggling GMB into ratings juggernaut into success that championed its rival BBC Breakfast
When Piers Morgan joined Good Morning Britain in November 2015, ITV’s weekday breakfast show was still struggling to outshine its predecessor.
It consistently had lower ratings than Daybreak despite a £1.5million launch a year earlier and high-profile signings such as Susanna Reid from BBC Breakfast, averaging about 560,000 viewers per episode.
Morgan joined the cast following a five-episode stint in April, and helped rocket the ITV show to its ‘highest ever’ viewing figures – which saw an audience of 1.65million people tune in last Monday.
But after a five-year career with Good Morning Britain, ITV today announced the tough-talking morning show host has sensationally quit his role.
Charlotte Hawkins, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid pictured in September 2017
Morgan’s resignation from Good Morning Britain marks the end of the latest chapter in his extraordinary career, in which he helped a struggling breakfast show grow into an undeniably popular news and talk programme.
Morgan was often praised for his chemistry with co-host Reid throughout his time at Good Morning Britain, with the latter once explaining the connection between the pair was ‘instant’.
Reid, 50, said in October 2017: ‘He totally wound me up from the moment he joined Good Morning Britain, nearly two years ago. ‘He’s the most annoying man I’ve ever met, but I find working with him exhilarating. Yes, he drives me nuts, but he also makes me laugh – and when the chips are down, and there’s a big news story breaking or we’re doing a controversial interview with a politician, I trust him.’
Reid, 50, said: ‘He totally wound me up from the moment he joined Good Morning Britain. He’s the most annoying man I’ve ever met, but I find working with him exhilarating. Yes, he drives me nuts, but he also makes me laugh – and when the chips are down, and there’s a big news story breaking or we’re doing a controversial interview with a politician, I trust him’
The colleagues quickly became famed for their vicious on-air battles, with Piers’ forthright views also often generating fierce debate and controversy among GMB’s millions of viewers.
For countless Britons, he was must-see TV, celebrated for his no-nonsense approach and for holding Ministers to account throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to his five-year stint on Good Morning Britain, Piers made his name in newspapers, becoming at 29 the youngest national newspaper editor in half a century when he rose the ranks of the News of the World in 1994.
The journalist left the paper following the controversial publication of photographs of Catherine Victoria Aitken, formerly Victoria Spencer, Countess Spencer, in 1995.
He later joined rival tabloid the Daily Mirror, but was sacked ‘with immediate effect’ in May 2004 after the newspaper published false images which alleged to show Iraqi prisoners being abused by British soldiers.
The photographs were shown to be fakes within days, and the Mirror claimed it had fallen victim to a ‘calculated and malicious hoax’ when apologising for the publication.
Piers began a distinguished career in television before departing the Mirror, reinventing himself as a CNN presenter in the US where he has a significant following.
He replaced television and radio host Larry King in the network’s evening line-up with his show Piers Morgan Live, which began in January 2011 before ending its run in March 2014.
Kate Garraway, Piers Morgan, Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York and Susanna Reid in November 2018
It was around this time that the straight-talking host began presenting the hugely successful chat show Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, in which he quizzes high-profile celebrities including Sharon Osbourne and Trisha Goddard one-on-one.
The show, which began in February 2009 and is ongoing, has also featured appearances from Elton John, Rod Stewart and Captain Tom Moore – who raised millions for the NHS in a charity walk during the Covid-19 crisis.
Outside the world of journalism, Piers has also appeared as a judge on America’s Got Talent in 2006 and later on the British version of the show. He also won the US Celebrity Apprentice in 2007, which featured former US President Donald Trump.
Moving on from his past success, and today’s departure from GMB, Piers remains a highly popular MailOnline columnist in both the UK and US. He was appointed editor-at-large of the publication’s US operation in September 2014.
