Piers Morgan stormed off the Good Morning Britain set live on air today after the show’s weatherman accused him of unfairly ‘trashing’ Meghan Markle.
Susanna Reid was forced to send the ITV show to an early advertisement break after the row between her co-host and Alex Beresford boiled over this morning.
Piers and Alex were discussing the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah, where the couple accused the Royal Family of racism.
Alex had suggested Meghan had ‘cut off’ Piers after striking up a romance with Prince Harry.
The GMB host returned to the set after the ad break and the pair continued the debate.
Piers later tweeted: ‘I was annoyed, went for a little cool-down, and came back to finish the discussion.’
He added that it was a ‘strong debate’ and so ‘worth a bit of GMB family tension’, but justifying his exit, said: ‘I just prefer not to sit there listening to colleagues call me diabolical.’
GMB host Alex Beresford had told Piers: ‘ I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, and I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off.’ Shortly after, Piers then storms out of the studio
GMB weatherman Alex Beresford had told Piers: ‘ I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, and I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off’
Susanna Reid said it would be best for the breakfast programme to go to a break amid stony silence from others in the studio
During a debate section of the show at around 6.30am, Alex decided to accuse Piers Morgan of ‘diabolical behaviour’. He then moved on to Piers’ claims that Meghan ‘dropped him’ as a friend, when Mr Beresford said: ‘She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to’.
He said: ‘I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme. She’s entitled to cut you off. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has. But you continue to trash her’.
Piers then stands up and says: ‘Ok, I’m done with this. Sorry. You can trash me mate but not on my own show. See you later’.
But Mr Beresford wasn’t finished, he said to Piers: ‘You know what that’s diabolical behaviour. That’s pathetic’ as the camera watched Mr Morgan walk off set.
‘I’m sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen. 6.30 to 7am yesterday was incredibly hard to watch. He has the ability to come in here and talk from a position where he doesn’t fully understand’, Mr Beresford said as his colleagues watched in horrified silence.
Susanna Reid said it would be best for the breakfast programme to go to a break amid stony silence from others in the studio.
After the break a visibly upset Piers Morgan said: ‘What it’s done is raise a lot of emotions.’
Turning to his colleague: ‘What we need to do Alex is talk to each other in a civilised manner given we work on the same show on the same team. You launching into a pretty personally derogatory monologue on one of your colleagues probably isn’t one of the best ways to go about it.
‘As much as I’d like to sit here taking abuse from you, that’s not going to happen.’
Alex then hit back, saying to Piers: ‘I’m not trying to come on this show and take you down. Just because we’re on the same side we have to have the same view.
‘This whole situation is very personal for me and I’m by no way, shape or form accusing you of being racist. I have the luxury of knowing you on and off screen and we’ve had conversations, I know where you stand on this and I have a great amount of respect for you, Piers.’
Piers replied: ‘I wanted you on the show today because you sent me a really thoughtful and nuanced message about all this and I thought we could have a thoughtful nuanced conversation’.
Alex then admitted: ‘I’m tired of finding a different way to explain not to you, but to so many people on why what has been said is so wrong.
He went on: ‘I’ve walked into institutions as the only person of colour and experienced covert and overt racism on so many occasions and why the Meghan interview really resonates with me is because an ex-work colleague – not on this show – asked me if I was worried about the shade of cocoa that my son was going to come out.
‘So I fully understand the hurt that is behind all of that.’
Piers insisted he has not got a ‘racist bone’ in his body, saying he would ‘love’ if one of his children brought home someone from a different race.
Alex Beresford told Piers: ‘I don’t feel that you are a racist… but that’s why I just feel the stance you were taking on it yesterday was so strong I just felt it was slightly clouded because you’ve had an experience with her.’
The pair rowed earlier in the week about the Oprah interview.
Alex tweeted: ‘You ever stop and think maybe you should give this woman carrying a baby a break?’
Piers Morgan then replied: ‘You mean like she’s giving a 94yr-old woman a break as her husband lies in hospital?’ – a reference to the Queen and her husband Prince Philip.
Several social media users voiced their views of the morning’s drama
Several social media users voiced their views of the morning drama.
One said: ‘I feel there as always been conflict with Alex and Piers, especially when comes to racism topics, and Alex had opportunity to tell it as it is.
‘But Piers wasn’t expecting that. He doesn’t like hearing the truth about himself.’
A third said: ‘Well that was the most dramatic opening 15 mins of any GMB show I’ve seen…
‘To be fair, I think Alex was overly critical of [Piers Morgan], who for me has only ever offered a balanced argument of the Sussexes’ ”faults”. ‘
Alex Beresford said Meghan was ‘entitled’ to cut him off, and Piers then storms out of the studio. Alex says it was ‘pathetic’, and ‘diabolical behaviour’
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