Petitions demanding Piers be reinstated on GMB near 200,000
Bring back Piers! Petitions demanding outspoken presenter Morgan be reinstated on Good Morning Britain near 200,000 – as show loses 80,000 viewers after he quit
- Piers Morgan quit GMB on Tuesday after clash with weatherman Alex Beresford
- Petitions launched to reinstate him have reached more than 193,000 signatures
- Tough-talking morning show host helped GMB achieve its highest-ever ratings
Tens of thousands of viewers have been making impassioned pleas to ITV bosses to reinstate Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain after he sensationally quit the show.
The tough-talking morning show host, 55, walked away from his role hours after the launch of a social media campaign which saw more than the 41,000 complaints made to Ofcom.
Piers had earlier clashed with weatherman Alex Beresford and stormed out of the studio after being challenged over his position on Meghan Markle’s recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.
However, close to 200,000 people have since signed a series of petitions calling for the presenter to be reinstated on ITV’s flagship breakfast show.
Tens of thousands of viewers have been making impassioned pleas to ITV bosses to reinstate Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain after he sensationally quit the show
Close to 200,000 people have signed a series of petitions calling for the presenter to be reinstated on ITV’s flagship breakfast show
One petition, called ‘Bring Back Piers Morgan!’, accused ITV of treating him ‘appallingly’ and another, ‘Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life’, now has more than 125,000 signatures.
A third, which has been signed by more than 40,000 people, describes his departure as ‘an absolute farce’.
The first petition tells fans: ‘This man has stuck by our NHS when many others didn’t care including our government.
‘He confronts the politicians on questions many of us want answering. He sponsored Sir Captain Tom £10,000 to start him off to support our NHS.
‘Please sign this petition and share it on, give him the support that he has given us as NHS workers.’
Piers happily stopped and smiled for the cameras as he left his west London home with daughter Elise this morning
Piers Morgan today tweeted a message of thanks to the Good Morning Britain team
Another states: ‘How ITV have treated Piers Morgan after he saved one of their failing shows is appalling.
‘They have thrown him under the bus and allowed him to be bullied by an colleague on air. Piers has turned the show into the most talked about show on ITV.
‘He was the only person who spoke on behalf of viewers during the pandemic and now he’s been bullied by the snowflakes all for speaking the truth.’
Last night, it had some 400 signatures. In less than 48 hours, that number had hit 27,579 – and was increasing by the second.
A third petition had tonight gained 40,838 of its goal of 50,000 signatures
The total number of signatures for the three polls is now more than 193,661 – up from 110,000 yesterday afternoon
It comes after it was revealed Good Morning Britain lost 80,000 viewers the day after Piers quit – while its rival BBC Breakfast’s audience grew by 200,000
The third petition, set up in 2019 to ‘Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life’, has also been gaining momentum.
It began as critics called for Piers to be sacked from GMB after he held politicians to account over their handling of the Covid crisis, and their lack of support for NHS workers.
It was set up by Emma Gates from Wigan, who urged people: ‘Sadly someone has an ongoing petition to have Piers Morgan sacked from GMB for being too out spoken! This is an absolute farce.
Bring back Piers! Tens of thousands of fans sign petitions demanding ITV bosses bring back host after ‘throwing him under the bus’
A petition launched after Piers quit GMB said the popular host had been treated ‘appallingly.’
A second petition started in May last year, titled, ‘Save Piers Morgan from being sacked from GMB’, said any decision to remove him from the show would be ‘an absolute farce.’
Another petition was set up in October 2019 to, ‘Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life.’
All three have garnered tens of thousands of signatures in less than 24 hours.
‘This man has stuck by our NHS when many others didn’t care including our government! He confronts the politicians on questions many of us want answering! He sponsored sir captain Tom £10000 to start him off to support our NHS!
‘Please sign this petition and share it on, give him the support that he has given us as NHS workers!’
The total number of signatures for the three polls is now more than 193,661 – up from 110,000 yesterday afternoon.
It comes after it was revealed Good Morning Britain lost 80,000 viewers the day after Piers quit – while its rival BBC Breakfast’s audience grew by 200,000.
The outspoken GMB host, who quit over his stance on Meghan Markle, helped the show achieve its highest-ever ratings on Tuesday this week, with 1.29million viewers compared to the BBC’s 1.25million.
Piers today tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their ‘hard work and dedication’ that led to them beating their main breakfast TV rival.
He tweeted: ‘I had one goal when I joined GMB – beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it.’
But within 24 hours of his smash-hit final broadcast on Tuesday, Wednesday’s ratings had plummeted to 1.21million while BBC Breakfast took the lead again with an average 1.42million viewers.
Shares in ITV also plunged in the wake of his resignation with almost £200million wiped off the company’s value last night.
Following Piers’ dramatic resignation on Tuesday, it emerged Meghan Markle had contacted ITV – reportedly chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall – to complain about his comments relating to mental health.
The Duchess of Sussex insisted she was not upset that Piers said he ‘didn’t believe a word she said’ in her Oprah interview – but was worried about how his comments could affect people attempting to deal with their own mental health problems, an insider said.
How Piers Morgan transformed struggling GMB into ratings juggernaut
Charlotte Hawkins, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid pictured in September 2017
When Piers Morgan joined Good Morning Britain in November 2015, ITV’s weekday breakfast show was still struggling to outshine its predecessor.
It consistently had lower ratings than Daybreak despite a £1.5million launch a year earlier and high-profile signings such as Susanna Reid from BBC Breakfast, averaging about 560,000 viewers per episode.
Morgan joined the cast following a five-episode stint in April, and helped rocket the ITV show to its ‘highest ever’ viewing figures – which saw an audience of 1.65million people tune in last Monday.
But after a five-year career with Good Morning Britain, ITV today announced the tough-talking morning show host has sensationally quit his role.
Morgan’s resignation from Good Morning Britain marks the end of the latest chapter in his extraordinary career, in which he helped a struggling breakfast show grow into an undeniably popular news and talk programme.
Morgan was often praised for his chemistry with co-host Reid throughout his time at Good Morning Britain, with the latter once explaining the connection between the pair was ‘instant’.
Reid, 50, said in October 2017: ‘He totally wound me up from the moment he joined Good Morning Britain, nearly two years ago. ‘He’s the most annoying man I’ve ever met, but I find working with him exhilarating. Yes, he drives me nuts, but he also makes me laugh – and when the chips are down, and there’s a big news story breaking or we’re doing a controversial interview with a politician, I trust him.’
Reid, 50, said: ‘He totally wound me up from the moment he joined Good Morning Britain. He’s the most annoying man I’ve ever met, but I find working with him exhilarating. Yes, he drives me nuts, but he also makes me laugh – and when the chips are down, and there’s a big news story breaking or we’re doing a controversial interview with a politician, I trust him’
The colleagues quickly became famed for their vicious on-air battles, with Piers’ forthright views also often generating fierce debate and controversy among GMB’s millions of viewers.
For countless Britons, he was must-see TV, celebrated for his no-nonsense approach and for holding Ministers to account throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to his five-year stint on Good Morning Britain, Piers made his name in newspapers, becoming at 29 the youngest national newspaper editor in half a century when he rose the ranks of the News of the World in 1994.
The journalist left the paper following the controversial publication of photographs of Catherine Victoria Aitken, formerly Victoria Spencer, Countess Spencer, in 1995.
He later joined rival tabloid the Daily Mirror, but was sacked ‘with immediate effect’ in May 2004 after the newspaper published false images which alleged to show Iraqi prisoners being abused by British soldiers.
The photographs were shown to be fakes within days, and the Mirror claimed it had fallen victim to a ‘calculated and malicious hoax’ when apologising for the publication.
Piers began a distinguished career in television before departing the Mirror, reinventing himself as a CNN presenter in the US where he has a significant following.
Kate Garraway, Piers Morgan, Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York and Susanna Reid in November 2018
He replaced television and radio host Larry King in the network’s evening line-up with his show Piers Morgan Live, which began in January 2011 before ending its run in March 2014.
It was around this time that the straight-talking host began presenting the hugely successful chat show Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, in which he quizzes high-profile celebrities including Sharon Osbourne and Trisha Goddard one-on-one.
The show, which began in February 2009 and is ongoing, has also featured appearances from Elton John, Rod Stewart and Captain Tom Moore – who raised millions for the NHS in a charity walk during the Covid-19 crisis.
Outside the world of journalism, Piers has also appeared as a judge on America’s Got Talent in 2006 and later on the British version of the show. He also won the US Celebrity Apprentice in 2007, which featured former US President Donald Trump.
Moving on from his past success, and his departure from GMB, Piers remains a highly popular MailOnline columnist in both the UK and US. He was appointed editor-at-large of the publication’s US operation in September 2014.
Source: Read Full Article