Piers: “Susanna and I go clubbing until 3am!”
Piers Morgan talks celebrity confrontations and nights out – and tells us why he doesn’t care what people think of him
His outlandish comments H and numerous Twitter spats have kept Piers Morgan dominating the headlines for the past decade. Just last month, the 52-year-old TV presenter labelled Lily Allen a “deluded clown” and Charlotte Church “absurdly ignorant” after the pair disagreed with his suggestion that the Muslim community should help seek out terrorists following the Manchester Arena suicide bombing.
But Piers’ ruthless online presence evaporates into nothing more than cheeky humour when Closer sits him down for a chat. The Good Morning Britain star is happy to admit he loves a juicy argument and his favourite person to wind up is his co-host Susanna Reid.
WORK RELATIONSHIPS
“I don’t care what people think, I prefer to just be myself,” he chuckles. “I laugh as I Tweet sometimes – I’m just winding up everybody!
“I p**s off Susanna most days! Sometimes in the ad break she tells me not to talk to her and I have to tell her to calm down – which makes her even more mad! It’s like an arranged marriage – we got put together, we didn’t really know each other at all and we just hoped it would work out.”
But Piers – who is father to Spencer, 23, Stanley, 20, and Bertie, 16, from his first marriage to Marion Shalloe, and Elise, five, with wife Celia Walden – admits that behind the scenes he and Susanna get on like a house on fire and even love the occasional bender.
GETTING ROWDY
He reveals: “Susanna knows that most of what I say is tongue-in-cheek! We don’t go out together often – but we had a night out last summer which ended up being quite a unique situation. We were outside on a balcony of a nightclub making so much noise that the neighbours complained and we were told by the bouncers to calm down. We just stayed up drinking and clubbing until 3am! Susanna can pack it away, don’t be misled. She doesn’t drink a lot, but when the fuse goes, she is off!”
But although Piers, who has met the likes of Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé and is a self-proclaimed close friend of Donald Trump, loves cutting celebrities down to size, he admits there are a couple of A-listers he wouldn’t mess with.
He jokes: “Sharon Osbourne is the most dangerous woman I’ve ever met. She can be scary – just ask her husband Ozzy!
CELEBRITY CRITICISM
“In terms of inspiring celebs, Jack Nicholson is definitely my all-time hero. On my birthday in March I saw him in my favourite restaurant in Beverly Hills. Normally I would have marched straight over and talked to him. But I was too awestruck – I just kept looking at him.”
Piers is usually completely unashamed when it comes to confronting celebrities and standing up for the things he believes in. But he showed he isn’t too big to apologise last week. He Tweeted Ariana Grande during the One Love Manchester concert to say sorry for misjudging her after earlier criticising her for going home straight after the terror attack that killed 22 people in the city. However, there are instances where Piers is more than happy to ruffle a few feathers.
Earlier this year, actor Ewan Mcgregor pulled out of an interview on GMB because of Piers’ criticism of the anti-trump
‘Ewan Mcgregor is a crowdpleasing p***k’
Women’s March in Washington, where he branded the protesters “rabid feminists.”
But the journalist-turned-presenter – who was sacked as editor of the Daily Mirror in 1995 after the newspaper admitted that photographs of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners were fake – says he was raging that Ewan cancelled his appearance and insists he’s anything but anti-women.
Women’s rights
“Ewan Mcgregor is a self-serving, crowdpleasing little p***k!” smiles Piers. “What he did was so cowardly. Ewan, come and look me in the eye and tell me what you actually disagree with! Don’t play the ‘Come on girls, I’m on your side, look at this horrible piece of work who hates women!’ card.
“I employed more women at the Mirror than any editor before me all combined! So don’t talk to me about women’s rights in a negative way – I never criticise women who are marching for equality. I want to make sure women are paid the same as men and get respect and equality – I’m marching alongside you, ladies.” l Killer Women with Piers Morgan returns Thursday 22 June, 9pm, ITV