Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid said the show will be “very different” as she addressed the abrupt departure of her co-host Piers Morgan.
The GMB host opened the show addressing the departure of Morgan but added “shows go on”
Morgan left following a backlash against his incendiary comments about the Duchess of Sussex and her headline-making interview with Oprah Winfrey.
ITV announced that the presenter and journalist was leaving the news programme on Tuesday with a brief statement.
Morgan has since said he stands by his comments and does not believe what Meghan told Winfrey, after she discussed her issues with mental health and suicidal thoughts.
Before leaving the show, Morgan had stormed off the set following a heated discussion with his colleague, Alex Beresford, about the duchess.
READ MORE: Celebrities back Piers Morgan after shock departure from ITV's Good Morning Britain
Reid, opening Wednesday’s programme, addressed her former co-star’s leaving and nodded to his often divisive presence.
She said: “A number of people will know the news and many of you will not and will be surprised that Piers Morgan is not here this morning.
“Now, Piers and I have disagreed on many things and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the programme.
READ MORE: ITV's Good Morning Britain: Ofcom to investigate Piers Morgan comments on Meghan Markle
“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.”
Reid said there are “many voices” on Good Morning Britain and “everyone has their say”.
She added: “But now Piers has decided to leave the programme. Some of you may cheer and others may boo.
READ MORE: Piers Morgan storms off the set of GMB after Meghan row with Alex Beresford
“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.”
Ranvir Singh, Reid’s co-presenter for the morning, replied: “Well said.”
She described Morgan as a “big character” and said “many viewers will be absolutely gutted”.
Singh called Morgan “Marmite” and acknowledged his role in Good Morning Britain’s success.
During Good Morning Britain, Morgan tweeted and said he still does not believe what Meghan said in her interview with Winfrey.
He said: “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.
“Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.”
During Tuesday’s programme, weather presenter Beresford defended Harry and Meghan during his discussion with Morgan.
He told the presenter: “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.”
Ofcom also announced on Tuesday that it was investigating comments Morgan made about the interview.
The watchdog received more than 41,000 complaints about his remarks on Monday’s Good Morning Britain.
According to the Telegraph, Meghan has submitted a formal complaint to ITV following Morgan’s comments.
The paper said a spokesman for the broadcaster “refused to deny” the reports.
ITV said it would not comment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel