Good Morning Britain addresses Piers Morgan exit as Ranvir Singh joins Susanna Reid
Good Morning Britain addresses Piers Morgan’s sudden exit in this morning’s (March 10) show.
In a statement released last night it was revealed that Piers had decided to leave the show.
ITV said: “Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain.
“ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
It followed TV watchdog Ofcom announcing an investigation into Monday’s episode (8 March) of the show over comments made by Piers about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Piers has faced criticism over his remarks about Meghan after she opened up about her mental health.
Today’s episode saw Ranvir Singh joins Susanna Reid for hosting duties.
Susanna said at the start of the show: “A number of people will of course 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 that viewers liked about the programme.
“He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster. He has many critics and he has many fans.”
Susanna continued: “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 will 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” she concluded.
Ranvir added: “Many people will be glad that he’s gone. Many viewers will be absolutely gutted this morning because people want to know what he thinks and know what he has to say.
“We don’t call him Marmite for nothing.”
Ranvir clarified that she was always due to appear on today’s show as newsreader and had simply “shifted seats” to join Susanna.
“I was here anyway, don’t read anything into this,” she remarked.
In yesterday’s show (9 March), Piers addressed the backlash to his comments and said: “When we talked about this yesterday, I said as an all-encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview, and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.
“But let me just state on the record my position about mental illness and on suicide. These are clearly extremely serious things that should be taken extremely seriously, and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and help they need every time.”
