Dan Walker’s explosive BBC Breakfast rows from Piers Morgan to Naga racism row regret

Dan Walker has sat on the infamous BBC Breakfast red sofa for six years.

Last month, the beloved TV host announced he was leaving his flagship show in a heartfelt message posted on social media.

The star, 45, revealed he will be moving to rival network Channel 5 to present its flagship news bulletin 5 News – and will also front a string of non-news shows across the channel.

He admitted that it was “a massive decision” but he is “really excited” on his new journey because “opportunities like this” don’t come around very often.

Like every morning news presenter, Dan has found himself involved in a few conflicts during his time on the show.

In honour of the presenter’s final day on the BBC morning show, Daily star have looked back at two of his most explosive BBC Breakfast rows.

Ongoing Piers Morgan feud

Former Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan and Dan Walker have been embroiled in a (sometimes playful) feud that dates as far back as 2017.

It began when Piers targeted Dan on Twitter by claiming GMB was closing the ratings gap on BBC Breakfast – while blaming him in the process.

Things started to get personal that same year when the salaries of BBC staff were announced.

Piers took it upon himself to mock Dan’s salary, claiming it was “one eighth of a Lineker”.

Around the same time, Dan did an interview with Radio Times and admitted: “He hates that we still get double the audience every morning, despite all the money they’ve spent on GMB.”

“I fight back because nobody else does,” Dan explained.

Later that year, the former ITV anchor vented his fury crushing a BBC Breakfast mug with a hammer.

Piers had been given the cheeky gift from GMB producer Neil Thompson, who had visited Dan on the famous red sofa earlier that week – with the two posing for a snap together.

This didn’t sit well with Piers who stunned GMB viewers when he whipped out at hammer and began to thrash the china item into thousands of pieces.

Piers vented: “It’s not at all the right time, Neil, to put a BBC Breakfast mug in front of me.”

Later adding: “Apparently health and safety are upset – do one.”

Following the live catastrophe that saw Piers infamously storm out of the GMB studio, Dan couldn’t resist taking a swipe at the controversial broadcaster.

He posted a photo with his BBC Breakfast co-host Louise Minchin and penned: “This was taken a few seconds before I stormed off set because Carol said it was going to be chilly this weekend.”

Piers immediately clapped back: “I’m surprised BBC bosses didn’t storm in and drag you off set after yesterday’s ratings came in.”

Shortly after, ITV announced: “Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”

Dan responded to the news with: “Sorry to hear the news about your departure from GMB @piersmorgan. If you’d like to come on the UK’s number 1 breakfast show to talk about it… we could make some space for you in the morning.”

When Dan appeared on the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, their feud was reignited when Piers sought out the opportunity to make a dig at Dan after he was voted out.

After Dan thanked his partner Nadia Bychkova in a heartfelt post on Twitter, Piers chimed in and said: ““You came 5th, mate, she needed a better pupil.”

Dan wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight however, responding: “Morning. I did think about walking off when @CraigRevHorwood gave me some grief in week 2 but… who does that?,” which was accompanied by the clip of Piers storming out of the GMB studio earlier that year.

It was only a matter of time before one of the presenters found an opportunity to publicly hit out at the other, and Dan’s BBC Breakfast exit was the perfect time for Piers to strike once again.

Speaking about Dan’s exist, Piers quipped: “Dan who? Hasn’t he disappeared to Channel 5 or something. He disappeared with his tail between his legs after we beat him in the ratings.”

Piers went on to say that it was “actually quite priceless” as ITV beat the BBC on his last day of GMB, adding “so he couldn’t ever do anything about it.”

“He could never beat us again. Anyway, best wishes to Dan. I hope he enjoys Channel 5. Is that still on TV?,” he quipped.

Naga Racism row

In 2017, Dan’s BBC Breakfast co-presenter Naga Munchetty, 47, was caught in a racism row.

At the time, Donald Trump issued a number of tweets that were directed at a group of congresswomen from immigrant and African American backgrounds.

In the tweets, he told them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”

Speaking during a live broadcast of BBC Breakfast following an interview with one of Trump’s supporters, the presenter expressed her anger at the president’s comments which she believed were racist.

When asked about the US president’s comments by co-presenter, Dan, she said: “Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism,” and later added that she was “absolutely furious.”

“I imagine a lot of people in this country will be feeling absolutely furious that a man in that position feels it’s OK to skirt the lines with using language like that,” she continued.

In September, the broadcaster decided, following a complaint, that Naga was found to have breached editorial guidelines and temporarily censured her.

Eight months later, in an interview with Radio Times, Dan expressed regret that he didn’t publicly supporting Naga during the row.

“I asked her at the time if she wanted me to speak about it. She was at the centre of this storm.

“I felt I should have said something in support of her, but she didn’t want any more attention.”

Dan also said that the BBC should have stood by Naga even after the ruling was later reviewed and reversed by BBC Director-General Lord Tony Hall.

He said: “BBC should have given a more robust defence of their presenters. We do think it could have been dealt with very differently. It was the right decision to overturn the original finding, but it didn’t need to get that far.”

In partially upholding a complaint against the TV star, the BBC was itself accused of racism, with broadcasters Sir Lenny Henry and Krishnan Guru-Murthy among others launching a campaign for the BBC to reverse its decision.

Dan said: “The day the story came out, I wrote to Tony Hall, saying, ”If Naga is guilty, then I’m guilty.”

Dan made a point to stand by his co-star, and he has done throughout his time on BBC Breakfast – but he’ll now be heading for pastures new and hanging up his BBC Lanyard.

For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk