Piers Morgan says Meghan Markle is “contemptible” for the “damage she’s done” following her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey alongside her husband Prince Harry.
ITV announced on Tuesday that the 55-year-old presenter has decided to leave his role after over five years as anchor on the breakfast show.
His decision comes after Ofcom revealed that it had received more than 41,000 complaints over the presenter’s claims he believed the Duchess of Sussex, 39, had “lied” about feeling suicidal.
The official statement read: “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.”
Piers Morgan is still standing by the comments he made about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, which saw him dramatically leave his role as Good Morning Britain host (Image: GC Images)
Speaking outside his London home before walking his daughter Elise, nine, to school on Wednesday morning, Piers said: “I believe in freedom of speech, I believe in the right to be allowed to have an opinion.
If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that’s entirely their right.
“I don’t believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible.”
Ofcom revealed that it had received more than 41,000 complaints over the presenter’s claims he believed that Meghan had “lied” about feeling suicidal (Image: Courtesy of Harpo Productions/CBS)
He continued: “If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it.”
Piers had earlier taken to Twitter to tell his 7.8 million followers that he still doesn’t believe what Meghan said during her bombshell Oprah interview.
He penned: “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview.
ITV announced on Tuesday that Piers has decided to leave his role after over five years as anchor on the breakfast show
“I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.
“Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.”
Piers’ co-host Susanna Reid paid tribute to the “outspoken, opinionated, and disruptive” star on tWednesday’s show as Ranvir Singh stepped in to replace him.
She said: “He is without a doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster. He has many critics and he has many fans.
“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.”
Good Moring Britain airs weekdays on ITV at 6am
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
