Dan Walker couldn’t resist taking a pop at Piers Morgan when he made an appearance during Monday’s edition of Good Morning Britain.
Throughout their respective tenures at BBC Breakfast and Good Morning Britain, the two presenters were engaged in a somewhat friendly public rivalry, which mostly revolved around viewing figures.
Now gearing up to make his debut as an anchor on Channel 5’s flagship news show, Dan was a guest on GMB on Monday, and made reference to Piers’ most infamous moment as host of the ITV daytime show.
At the end of his interview, Dan told hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley: “I’m going to do what they normally do on this programme – walk off.”
As the former Strictly Come Dancing star left the set, Susanna interjected: “I’d just like to point out only one person’s ever done that. But… yes, it is a stage that has been set for you. Bye, Dan!”
“See you later!” he then called from the other side of the studio.
Dan was, of course, referencing Piers’ infamous walk-off back in March 2021.
A day after tearing into Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey – including casting doubt on her revelation that she’d experienced suicidal thoughts as a senior royal – Piers was called out for his remarks live on air by colleague Alex Beresford.
Unimpressed with Alex’s comments, Piers stormed off the set, and that night announced he would not be returning to GMB, shortly after it was announced that Ofcom would be launching an immediate investigation into his remarks.
Ofcom eventually ruled that GMB had not breached their code of conduct by broadcasting Piers’ remarks, pointing out he had been challenged by others in the studio, including Susanna.
Reacting to Dan’s walk-off, he tweeted: “He couldn’t even do this better than me…”
Piers is now the host of his own show on Talk TV, and while reports of falling viewing figures there have been widely shared, the divisive presenter has apparently taken a rather different attitude to the ratings this time around.
“Linear TV [is] increasingly irrelevant [compared] to total eyeball potential for a global show like this, especially with younger viewers who don’t really watch TV any more,” he previously tweeted.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.