After his recent on-air clash with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain regarding Meghan Markle, weatherman Alex Beresford has now revealed the painful reason as to why he was so invested.
Alex, 40, and Piers, 56 had an unsettling dispute over the Meghan and Harry interview which aired on ITV in March.
Opinionated Piers did not hold back his views regarding Meghan’s racial allegations made against the Royal Family and her claims that she suffered from mental health.
In the interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan expressed she had suicidal thoughts and claimed there were “concerns and conversations” with the Royal Family about “how dark” her son Archie would be when he was born.
(Image: ITV)
While presenting GMB, Piers said he disbelieved Meghan’s claims which led Alex to jump to the Duchess’ defence on the programme the next day. As the clash became increasingly heated, a rather displeased Piers stormed off set.
Alex said: “I’m sorry but Piers spouts off on a regular basis and we all have to sit there and listen, 6.30 to 7 o’clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch, incredibly hard to watch, this is, you know he has the ability to come in here and talk from a position where he doesn’t fully understand.”
Speaking to the The Telegraph, Alex has now revealed the heartbreaking reason as to why he was so invested.
The weatherman explained: “Last month’s Harry and Meghan interview resonated with me on so many levels, from a similar experience around the concern of a baby’s shade of colour to the devastation of laying to rest someone very close to my heart just three months ago, who had those same suicidal thoughts.
“Whilst appearing to be a Royal problem, it felt so personal to me.”
(Image: pixel8000)
Alex expressed that the comments about Meghan made him think of his own personal experience as a mixed-race man who grew up in a council house in Bristol.
The star revealed that having a mixed raced person as a royal was seen as a fantasy when he was younger.
The father of one also believes that one of the best ways to eradicate racism is to tackle it head on in schools.
He explained: “School was the place where differences became visible to me. As well as learning the two times table I also had to teach myself quickly about what prejudice meant.
“Managing the many forms of racism can start at the same time as learning to tie your shoelaces.”
During his conversation with Piers, Alex revealed that he was also quizzed by a former colleague on “what shade of cocoa” his unborn child would be. The star added that this was one of the main reasons why he resonated so deeply with Meghan’s claims.
He expressed: ”I’ve walked into institutions as the only person of colour and experienced covert and overt racism on so many occasions.
“Why the Meghan interview really resonates with me is because an ex-work colleague – not off this show – asked me if I was worried the shade of cocoa my son was going to come out.
“So I fully understand the hurt that is behind all of that.
(Image: Getty Images)
“When you’re mixed race what you find, in my personal experience, is that when you’re a lighter shade of black, people gain confidence and think they can say things to do that they wouldn’t say to a black person.”
Since Piers has departed from the breakfast show, he has made claims that Alex has snubbed him.
The presenter said in his Mail on Sunday column: “I’ve had nice messages from all the other GMB presenters, apart from Alex Beresford.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
