Richard Madeley has praised Piers Morgan’s ‘large heart’ as he ruled himself out of the running to replace him on Good Morning Britain.
The presenter has been linked with the job since Piers quit the show last week, following the backlash to his comments concerning Meghan Markle.
Piers made headlines after condemning Meghan and Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying that he ‘didn’t believe’ the Duchess of Sussex when she said she felt suicidal in the past.
The bookies had put Richard in the mix to take over as permanent host following Piers’ exit, along with the likes of Ranvir Singh, Ben Shephard and Alex Beresford. However, Richard has now put the rumours to bed.
Writing in the Spectator, Richard started by praising Piers, saying: ‘I’ve known Piers for more than 30 years — we went to the same journalism college — and he has a large heart.’
Richard also said that Piers once bought pictures taken of him and wife Judy Finnigan on holiday – and agreed not to use them after speaking to him on the phone.
Referencing Piers’ previous controversies, Richard added: ‘Piers would later be sacked from the Mirror over those notorious faked Iraq torture photographs. Ten years on he got the chop at CNN after enraging the US gun lobby with unswerving attacks on them; now this.’
‘Piers presents TV with his foot to the floor, going into bends at speed and skidding through the chicanes on full rubber-burning four-wheel lock. Drive a show like that and inevitably you’ll spin off the track. But he’ll be back.’
Richard went on to talk about the rumours linking him with Good Morning Britain, saying: ‘The bookmakers had me as favourite to take over from Piers on Good Morning Britain, so I can say ta-ta to that. The favourite never wins.’
Speculating about the future line-up of the programme, he went on to say: ‘My money’s on an all-woman lineup, with a nod to diversity. Ranvir Singh, riding high since her terrific outing on Strictly, made an impressive pairing with Susanna Reid the morning after Piers stormed off the set.’
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Good Morning Britain has experienced a 40% drop in viewing figures following Piers’ exit from the show last week.
He left the programme following the backlash to his comments, and Good Morning Britain has now been hit with 57,121 Ofcom complaints – the highest number in the regulator’s history.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
Credit: Original article published here.The post Richard Madeley praises Piers Morgan’s ‘large heart’ as he rules himself out of the running for Good Morning Britain job appeared on My Celebrity Life.
