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Piers Morgan has blasted the hosts of Channel 4′s The Last Leg for not shutting down “shameful” comments Miriam Margolyes made about the prime minister.
On last Friday’s show, Miriam sparked controversy when she admitted she’d initially wanted Boris Johnson to die when he was hospitalised with coronavirus last month.
She told hosts Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker via video link: “I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die. I wanted him to die. Then I thought that will reflect badly on me and I don’t want to be the sort of person that wants people to die.
“So then I wanted him to get better, which he did do, he did get better. But he didn’t get better as a human being. And I really would prefer that.”
After it was revealed 241 people have complained to TV watchdog Ofcom over Miriam’s comments, Piers addressed the matter on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain.
As he called out Miriam, the presenter was also angered about how the hosts had dealt with the moment on air.
He said: “What has happened to society where we can’t have a debate about stuff? I recently watched Darkest Hour and Churchill in the House of Commons had very animated heated debates about stuff but no one wanted people to die.
“Shame on you Miriam Margolyes, absolute shame on you.”
He continued: “I’ve got to say, I like some of them, not all of them on The Last Leg, but their reaction as well, one of you should have jumped in, there’s comedy, and there’s comedy – that’s not comedy.
“If someone said on this show, ‘I wanted Boris Johnson to die’ I would have ripped them, and yet no one said anything, she was allowed to have her moment and people were encouraged by their silence to laugh.
“It’s not funny what Boris Johnson went through personally on that ICU unit – he nearly died. And I think it’s really shameful of Miriam Margolyes.”
A spokesperson for The Last Leg previously told HuffPost UK: “The programme is live and unexpected comments can happen. In this instance Miriam went on to say that she wanted him to get better.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.