Piers Morgan was forced to apologise after reading out a rather rude birthday message from Vinnie Jones during Monday’s Good Morning Britain.
On Monday, Piers celebrated his 54th birthday, and marked the occasion by reading out a select few messages from his famous friends, one of whom was the former footballer and X Factor: Celebrity star.
“I’ve had a great card from Vinnie Jones,” Piers explained. “It says ‘happy birthday you total legend’... and in smaller writing, ‘I meant total bell-end’.”
Co-presenter Charlotte Hawkins was quick to question whether the term “bell-end” was suitable for breakfast TV, saying: “Can you say that? On television?”
“I dunno, I just said it, didn’t I?” Piers shot back. “Aren’t we past normal rules on TV? Seriously?”
Charlotte then apologised on Piers’ behalf, but the presenter was unrepentant (at least at first).
“Oh god, are we still getting offended?” he questioned. “Even despite everything that’s happened. Haven’t we learnt that we can have a laugh?”
“No,” Charlotte hit back, “Because this is how things start to break down.”
Eventually, Piers relented, apologising to “anyone who was offended”.
During Monday’s GMB, it was also revealed that usual anchor Susanna Reid would be returning to the studio later this week, after spending two weeks in self-isolation.
Susanna has been appearing on the show via video link from her family home for the past fortnight, after a member of her household began showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The pandemic has affected the entertainment industry in many ways, not least ITV’s daytime schedule.
For the foreseeable future, both Lorraine and Loose Women have shut down production, with presenter Lorraine Kelly joining the GMB studio for an hour every morning.
Meanwhile, ITV is currently showing “classic” episodes of Loose Women in the show’s usual slot.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.