Piers Morgan threatened to quit 'GMB' FIVE times before leaving for good: 'I can be a bit of a prima donna'
Piers Morgan left everyone shocked with his dramatic departure from ‘Good Morning Britain’ after he refused to apologize to Meghan Markle. Morgan had made insensitive comments on the former actress’ claims of feeling suicidal while five-months pregnant with her firstborn while staying in the UK. But before leaving the popular breakfast show for good, Morgan had earlier jokingly talked about quitting the show many times. In 2017, he made the threat live on air following announcement that ‘Love Island’ winners Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies were to be given a showbiz slot on 'GMB'. The 55-year-old broadcaster had slammed the participants of the show for “having sex on TV” to make money.
The second threat from Morgan came in 2018 when he complained about his long working hours. He had clashed with show bosses behind the scenes while accusing them of “killing” him. At the time, he told OK! Magazine, “I threatened to quit a couple of times. I can be a bit of a prima donna. I was coming in at 4am and it was killing me, but now they let me come in at 5:30 am. (Now) I get more time off. GMB seems to be successful. So I said you can have me a little bit less, which might be quite popular, and they were prepared to do that, so I was happy to stay."
RELATED ARTICLES
Piers Morgan says Meghan lying about suicidal thoughts, Internet slams ITV for running mental health campaign
Just eight months after this incident, Morgan again threatened to cut ties with GMB after the show’s Twitter account made fun of him, claiming he was difficult to work with. Morgan did not play along and said he will quit they continued making fun of him. In 2019, he told the viewers it was his "last week" hosting the program. But when he read a viewer’s message on air that stated, “I thought I heard you state you're leaving at the end of the year." He responded, “I'm not", before adding: "Leaving next year? Possibly."
This week, Morgan was slammed for criticizing Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey alongside Prince Harry. During the interview, the 39-year-old claimed she wanted to kill herself while living in the UK. At the time, she was pregnant with Archie. The Duchess of Sussex said, “That was a very clear and real and frightening thought. I couldn't be left alone.” She also stated that after being refused help from 'The Institution — which means senior officials of the royal family — she went to one of Princess Diana's best friends who helped her through the troubled times. “Yes, this was very clear and very scary. I did not know who to turn to. One of the people I reached out to, who has been a friend and a confidante, was one of Diana’s best friends. Who else could understand what it is actually like on the inside,” she added.
But Morgan dismissed her claims as he said, “Who did you go to? What did they say to you? I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report.” At the time, his co-host Susanna Reid disagreed with him and said, “Well, that’s a pathetic reaction to someone who has expressed those thoughts.” ITV News’ royal editor Chris Ship also criticized him by saying, “Someone saying that they had suicidal thoughts, I don’t think you can say that she was lying at that point. She had these thoughts, pretty serious ones, she took them to HR.”
Things came to a head when English weatherman Alex Beresford berated Morgan to his face on the show, calling his behavior towards Meghan “diabolical”.
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…” It was at this point Morgan stood up and started to leave the set, saying, “OK, I’m done with this… Sorry, no… sorry, can’t do this…” As Morgan left the set, Beresford called his actions "diabolical behavior". Soon it was announced that Morgan was leaving GMB as a host.