Bring back Piers Morgan: More than 60,000 sign petitions in 15 HOURS to demand return of GMB host

Good Morning Britain fans are now tuning into BBC Breakfast after Piers Morgan quit the show.

Piers helped transform the ITV breakfast show into a ratings hit that beat its rival for the first time this week, with 1.29million viewers – beating BBC’s 1.25m.

But ratings plummeted after his smash-hit final episode and on Wednesday BBC took the lead again, with an average 1.42m viewers, compared to 1.21m for GMB.

Shares in ITV also plunged in the wake of his resignation with almost £200million wiped off the company’s value.

This comes as more than 65,000 people have put their names to petitions demanding the popular GMB host to return to his presenting job – with more signing every minute.

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 113,000 signatures.

And a third, which has been signed by more than 39,000 people, describes getting him sacked as ‘an absolute farce’.

Piers happily stopped and smiled for the cameras as he left his west London home with daughter Elise this morning

Overnight, just over 54,000 Britons signed various campaigns calling for the popular GMB host to return to his presenting job

Piers Morgan today tweeted a message of thanks to the Good Morning Britain team

Almost £200 MILLION is wiped off the value of ITV as broadcaster’s shares plunge in the wake of Piers Morgan’s departure

By Matt Oliver, City Correspondent for the Daily Mail

Almost £200million was wiped off the value of ITV yesterday as the broadcaster’s shares plunged in the wake of Piers Morgan’s departure.

The former Good Morning Britain host quit on Tuesday amid a storm of controversy over his comments about the Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

He had co-presented the breakfast programme since 2015 and is credited with boosting its viewing figures, with his combative interviews with government ministers drawing praise during the pandemic.

And as investors yesterday mulled what his departure could mean for ITV, shares in the company fell by as much as 6 per cent.

The stock finally closed down 3.8 per cent – wiping £193million off ITV’s market value.

The commercial broadcaster, which makes most of its money from advertising and producing television programmes, was valued at about £4.9billion yesterday.

Ed Cropley, a financial commentator at Reuters, said the shares drop suggested Mr Morgan’s exit could cost tens of millions of pounds in lost ad sales and that ITV ‘can’t take his departure likely’.

‘Britain’s broadcasters can now put a price on US-style culture wars,’ he added.

Under Morgan and co-presenter Susanna Reid, Good Morning Britain beat arch-rival BBC Breakfast in the ratings for the first time on Tuesday, when it was watched by 1.29million people.

Piers today tweeted a message of thanks to the Good Morning Britain team and said he’d achieved his one goal as he bowed out – to beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings.

He tweeted this morning: ‘I had one goal when I joined GMB – beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it.

‘That was down to the hard work & dedication of the whole team.

‘They don’t all agree with me, some don’t even like me, but we were a team..and we won.

‘Thanks guys. I’ll miss you.’

On Tuesday BBC got 1.25m viewers, 33.4% share, compared to GMB’s average 1.29m viewers and 35.3% share.

He was in cheery spirits as he left his west London home today, happily smiling for the cameras – as his wife Celia of ten years shared a witty parody video about her husband.

Celia Walden shared the Instagram video created by comedian Alexandra Haddow, which was captioned: ‘Piers Morgan’s wife waking up this morning.’

It shows a woman blissfully waking up before showing her horror as she turns to see her husband in bed beside her.

One 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 £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.’

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.

‘BRING PIERS BACK ITV.’

Another petition, set up in 2019 to ‘Keep Piers Morgan on GMB for his common sense approach to life’ is also gaining momentum.

The total number of signatures for the three polls is now more than 172,411 – up from 110,000 yesterday afternoon.

There has been an outpouring of support for Piers on social media

The programme’s Health Editor Dr Hilary Jones also paid tribute, saying Mr Morgan ‘has a big heart’

Harry and Meghan’s PR team ‘sent bizarre warning to BBC not to only use ”old white men” in coverage of Oprah interview’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s press team warned the BBC to be impartial when it covered the Oprah Winfrey interview, reports say.

Correspondents were said to have been sent the bizarre message on Monday, hours before the Sussexes sit-down with the chat show host.

The PR firm is said to have told journalists not to use only ‘white old men’ when analysing the couple’s claims.

One source slammed the stunt as ‘strange’ and they added: ‘This is the UK, not China.’

The latest intervention comes after Meghan wrote to ITV’s boss to complain about Piers Morgan’s coverage – with the popular presenter quitting GMB hours later.

Campaigners yesterday blasted the ‘chilling effect on free speech’ and said they were writing to ITV and Ofcom.

One of the Sussexes’ PRs reportedly warned BBC reporters to use a ‘broad range of contributors’.

A source told the Sun: ‘To be told how to conduct its coverage by a PR person is a bit strange to say the least. This is the UK, not China.’

But the BBC said: ‘We’re contacted by PRs all the time. We had a broad range of voices and don’t believe there are issues.’

On today’s GMB, Kate Garraway addressed co-host Piers’s departure – describing him as ‘passionate’ and ‘authentic’.

Presenting Thursday’s ITV show, Garraway said of her former colleague: ‘He is very passionate. He does fly kites and have debates but it always comes from a place of authenticity.

‘He always believes in what he says.’

She added: ‘He’s left. He’s decided to quit and, as he put it himself, fall on the sword of free speech.’

Garraway, whose husband Derek Draper is in hospital after being admitted with coronavirus last year, said her friendship with Morgan ‘will go on’, adding: ‘He’s been very supportive of me personally.’

And she said of the future of the ITV programme: ‘It’s a different show but the show goes on.’

ITV’s shares yesterday plummeted by 4.3 per cent amid campaigners writing to ITV and Ofcom over concerns of a ‘chilling effect on free speech’.

They were worried about the way the broadcaster insisted Mr Morgan apologise for expressing his opinion, saying journalists should be ‘free to express their scepticism’ about statements made by high-profile people without the risk of losing their job.

Toby Young, of The Free Speech Union, expressed fears it looked like ITV was ‘happy to censure’ a journalist ‘at the request of a member of the Royal Family’.

Former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, who is launching new channel GB News, said he wished to talked to Mr Morgan about a role, saying he would be a ‘great asset’.

Meghan Markle wrote to ITV’s boss to complain about Mr Morgan hours before the GMB co-host quit following an on-screen row with weatherman Alex Beresford.

The Duchess of Sussex insists she was not upset that Mr Morgan 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 told the Press Association.

Standing firm yesterday, following his departure, Mr Morgan told reporters outside his West London home: ‘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.’

On Monday Ms Markle went directly to ITV’s CEO Dame Carolyn McCall, the former boss of the left-wing Guardian newspaper, who signed off on the broadcaster’s £1million deal to show the Oprah interview and said yesterday they were ‘dealing with’ the GMB host.

Mr Morgan is understood to have been ordered to apologise – but he refused and quit instead saying he had the right to tell viewers his ‘honestly held opinions’ and declaring: ‘Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on’.