Piers Morgan has insisted he will not be returning to Good Morning Britain any time soon, after leaving the daytime show earlier this week.
On Tuesday night, Piers’ exit from Good Morning Britain was confirmed by ITV, after his comments casting doubt on Meghan Markle’s recent claims about her mental health and experiences of racism sparked more than 40,000 complaints to Ofcom.
During his six-year stint on GMB, Piers earned a lot of critics with his strong views, but also a lot of supporters, with almost 200,000 people signing a petition calling for him to be reinstated as the show’s anchor.
However, the divisive presenter has now made it clear that he won’t be returning.
“I won’t be going back, but thanks to everyone who has signed these petitions,” he wrote.
“Normally, people start petitions to have me fired or deported, so this is a pleasant surprise.”
The morning after his GMB exit, Piers doubled down on his remarks about Meghan Markle.
Sharing an image of Winston Churchill and a quote about free speech on Twitter, he wrote: “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. 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.”
He later told reporters: “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.
“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.”
GMB News chairman Andrew Neil has since claimed he’d be “delighted” if Piers were to join his already-controversial upcoming station.
Piers hasn’t addressed this directly, but did previously say he was “always in talks with people”, regarding future employment.